Workers' House at Quinta da Ponte
The building is part of a series of row constructions attached to the perimeter wall of the estate. Its ground floor, excavated into the terrain, housed small shops that only opened onto the main facade, which faces the narrow surrounding street. The upper floor, though at the level of the estate, was only accessible from the street and contained a residence, which was not connected to the estate beyond small openings.
The project completely reverses the building's functioning, both internally and in its relationship with the exterior, while not altering the volume that continues the row.
The main facade, which faces the street, becomes the back of the project, which aims to open up entirely to the estate both visually and functionally. The upper floor incorporates four openings with large windows, two of which extend to the basement through individual patios.
These new conditions of light and ventilation allow the rooms to extend down to the ground floor, which also accommodates the wet rooms. In this way, the main floor, now fully liberated, forms a large common space in relation to the estate.
In addition to the reconstruction of the wooden roof, the structural intervention consists of retaining walls that form the patios and a new intermediate slab, supported by a cylinder that houses the staircase and is crowned by the kitchen, which articulates the space on the upper floor.
