HOUSE IN ANSELMO BRAANCAMP

Rehabilitation and extension project for a dwelling in a corner building, located at a crossroads on Rua de Anselmo Braancamp.

Built in 1910, the building has shops on the first floor and a dwelling on the upper floor. Initially, it was a small single-storey building whose use was unknown. In the last decade, it has suffered some degradation, especially on the upper floor, which has been vacant for several years, leading to the demolition of the interior of the dwelling and repairs to protect the stores.

When the project was commissioned, the need arose for an extension, resulting in the creation of two new volumes: one on the first floor, for a garage, and another on the upper floor, for housing. These volumes have a distinctive architectural language, with simpler shapes, a new cladding, flat roof and redesigned railings.

The plastic difference between the intervention and the existing building was conceived as a condition of the project, seeking to integrate the new and old elements by overlapping planes and adjusting proportions in some openings.

Internally, the space was organized along a corridor, with the aim of ensuring good natural light in the main compartments. The project includes an element of spatial composition, clad in birch wood, made up of shelves and cupboards that serve the corridors and bedrooms, as well as structuring the living space and framing the entrances to the kitchen and service toilet.

Urban regeneration has been helping to restore degraded and vacant heritage since the 1980s, a period when new construction predominated to the detriment of existing buildings. This project aims to preserve the city's identity and participate in the revitalization of urban complexes, many of which together maintain the city's character.