Project: SAA House
Architects: aste arquitectura
Location: Oliveira De Azemeis, Portugal
Area: 1,367 sf
Year: 2021
Photographs by: José Campos, Ana Isabel Costa e Silva
SAA House in Oliveira De Azemeis, Portugal, underwent a rehabilitation, reorganizing the interior layout to optimize living spaces. The design introduced a new opening and structural changes, allowing for a room in the attic. The wooden roof structure appears detached from the exterior walls, subtly showcasing the modifications. The south-facing living space and kitchen provide a connection to the beautiful outdoor surroundings. With attention to detail and preservation of the main entrance, the house now offers an improved program and a closer connection between indoor and outdoor spaces
The house built in the early years of the 20th century, on a very long and narrow plot of land, consisted of two volumes. The main entrance to the house was in the main volume and the kitchen was in an annex, lower volume. This construction presented some pathologies, of easy resolution, namely in the roof structure.
However, the family wanted to rehabilitate the grandparents’ house with a more demanding program compared to that found. It was intended, above all, to have a living space that could enjoy the outdoor space to the south, still agricultural and very beautiful.
Therefore, the existing interior organization principle was changed, keeping only the main entrance of the house.
Thus, to the north, next to the entrance, formerly the living room, is the double bedroom. The kitchen space (with an independent entrance and with direct access, to the south, of the lot) was replaced by the bathroom, closing the entrance door, and the laundry room, with direct access to the outside, maintaining the existing one.
To the south, the living space and the kitchen were placed, designing a new opening that breaks with the usual proportions of the openings of houses built with stone masonry. For this, it was necessary to build a reinforced concrete beam. Taking advantage of this structural need, it was decided to build a lintel beam around the house, increasing the old height by 35 cm. With this structural introduction, it was possible to change the roof structure, simplify it, and allow the location of a room in the attic.
Some details were designed so that this change would be subtly visible both from the outside and from the inside.
From the outside, the design of the wooden pieces that make up the roof’s structure do not seem to touch the exterior walls, showing that it is an element made a posteriori. On the other hand, on the inside, the lintel beam in its relationship with the stone masonry is left in view, having only been painted.
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