Post By:Kitticoon Poopong
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
The house is located in a "typical" peripheric urbanization of Pousos, a parish of the municipality of Leiria. Situated east of the city and at high ground, it works as a sort of panoramic belvedere over Leiria.
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
So as to assure for more space and complete access to the faraway view, the owners also bought the three lots ahead, over the "cliff", that were later gathered in a single lot. Although each lot allowed for the construction of a basement and two more storeys, usually compacted and isolated in the centre of the lot, this assemblage allowed the possibility of having a lower house, which "embraced" flatter portions, with garden space.
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
When we went to the place the first time, the streets surrounding the lot had already been made and, because of the earth displacement necessary for the street making, the land rose suddenly, starting from the sidewalk, like a suggestive construction of a topographic nature. On the surroundings, all the neighbour houses were already built and "circled" the lot in an "L" shape.
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
The conception of the house emerges directly from the way we observed this reality. Dealing with a single-family house of large dimensions for local standards, we chose to divide the construction volume in two parts. Half of the construction is buried, like a negative of the land, and assumed as being a part of it. Over that half-land, a second volume is placed, long and flattened, in apparent white concrete. In the inferior volume are located the technical areas, the less used areas or those of support. In the upper volume the socials areas gather around a main courtyard, and the bedrooms around a private second one.
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
After all, the main characteristic of this house is the way its dialectical feature comes about: the underground, "natural" half of the building, its upper half, floating and "artificial", and the life flowing between the two. One face, introverted, intimate, of shadow or reflected light; another, open, glowing, transparent, from where it is possible to enjoy the distant horizon.
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
In the end, all that matters, as always in this kind of project, is to understand the life and personality of those who come to us in need of a house design, and try to give them a new meaning for everyday life.
Description from the Architects:
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| Photo © Courtesy of © Fernando Guerra / FG + SG, ARX Architecture |
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| level -1 floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of ARX Architecture |
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| ground floor plan--drawing © Courtesy of ARX Architecture |
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| roof plan--drawing © Courtesy of ARX Architecture |
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| north elevation--drawing © Courtesy of ARX Architecture |
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| south elevation--drawing © Courtesy of ARX Architecture |
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| longitudinal section--drawing © Courtesy of ARX Architecture |
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| model 1--drawing © Courtesy of ARX Architecture |
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| model 2--drawing © Courtesy of ARX Architecture |
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| model 3--drawing © Courtesy of ARX Architecture |
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| model 4--drawing © Courtesy of ARX Architecture |
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| model 5--drawing © Courtesy of ARX Architecture |
Project Data
Project name: House in Leiria
Location: Pousos, Leiria, Portugal
Program: Single family house
Gross Construction Area: 1010 m2
Project Start: 2006
Construction: 2008 – 2011
Completion: 2011
The people
Architects: ARX Architecture, José Mateus, Nuno Mateus
Project Team: Sofia Raposo, Bruno Goncalves, Pedro Jesus
Engeneering: SAFRE, Projectos e Estudos de Engenharia Lda.
Photographs: ©
Fernando Guerra / FG+SG
Note>>Location in this map, It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
