Pedro Miguel Santos . photos: © Patrícia Correia
This small house is set in a plot of land with a generous area on the outskirts of Penafiel, northern Portugal. The absence of tensions in the diluted rural surroundings, guided its structure into a completely symmetrical arrangement. This way the house lands on the ground as a temple, alien to its surroundings. And as in classical architecture, its program is completely submissive to the house’s structure, which is completely revealed inside and outside.
On the exterior, and with the awareness of this classic approach, we chose to use materials that reveal the passage of time. The exposed and structural concrete is then highlighted by exposed white brick layed in stretcher bond and stacked bond. This duality of materials and variation of patterns created a second layer of design over the simple and symmetrical facades, making the house’s materiality
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