Casa São Cosme
Situated to the east of Porto alongside the river Douro, in Gondomar, in an area with several individual family houses. This project for a young couple with a child and plans for future children is built in a plot with around 700sqm and more than 10m height with an only access by a road to the west, on the lower part of the plot. From the highest part of the terrain, it is possible to have a view of the river in between electric cables and the built environment.
The project, like a climber, digs in the land and climbs up the hill to reach the highest point. On the lower level we design a small open entrance to control the irregularities of the plan, and a flight of stairs that defines an axis and divides the house between the technical spaces and the living areas. On the mid-level above the garage, there is the main entrance and bedrooms, and on the upper floor there is the living room and the kitchen connected to a large terrace, and a small swimming pond, facing the river.
Structurally the house is a concrete block, divided by three layers of wooden concrete beams, disposed diagonally, that break the volume into parts and establish different rhythms depending on the sides. The last floor closes with a continuum of smaller concrete beams that try to indicate a direction towards the outside.
