Hasta La Ideas

Portuguese architect João Branco has converted a small office building in Coimbra into a home by installing softwood joinery that functions as furniture, storage and partitions (+ slideshow).

Described by Branco as being “closer to carpentry than building construction”, the project involved adding three sections of woodwork to the lower floor of the two-storey property to create a living room, dining area, study, kitchen and toilet.

“The intervention proposes to let the light flow, converting it into a diaphanous space and thus increasing the feeling of spaciousness,” said the architect.

The first wooden structure sits just beyond the entrance. It creates a study area for two people beneath the staircase, but also accommodates a cloakroom, a shelf and a gridded bookshelf.

Ahead of this, a low and narrow timber piece doubles as both a sideboard and a bench, separating the living and dining areas.

The kitchen and toilet are both housed within the third structure. This is made up of floor-to-ceiling partitions, some of which turn out to be doors, and also includes a row of kitchen cupboards and a countertop.

“The objects are designed to provide the greatest possible sobriety, resulting in a high degree of abstraction and giving the house enhanced spatial clarity,” added Branco.

An oak parquet floor was added throughout the space, while an existing staircase with wooden treads leads up to bedroom spaces on the level above.

Photography is by Do Mal o Menos.

Here’s a project description from João Branco:

Apartment in Coimbra

Three pieces of furniture create a home. The aim was to convert a former two-floor office into a rental apartment. The proposal, which develops at the lower level, focuses on reconverting a small area, originally subdivided and dark, to accommodate the social areas of the house.

The intervention proposes to let the light flow, converting it into a diaphanous space and thus increasing the feeling of spaciousness. The main decision is not to build, intervening by dispensing with traditional construction work, in favour of a dry approach, much simpler, without creating new walls or divisions. To that, the plant is emptied, introducing in the diaphanous space three wooden pieces of furniture that will organise the space.

Firstly, a box contains wet areas: kitchen and bathroom. A mobile with a bookcase and table gives form to the the entrance and to a small office under the stairs. Finally, a movable lower furniture separates the living and eating areas. With only these three pieces, shape is given to the spaces of the house, always visually connected to maintain unity and flow of southern light.

This work, closer to carpentry than building construction, focuses on the details and encounters. Reducing to a minimum the elements, fittings, switches, etc. the objects are designed to provide the greatest possible sobriety, resulting in a high degree of abstraction and giving the house enhanced spatial clarity.

The post Wooden structures combine partitions and
furniture inside home by João Branco appeared first on Dezeen.

Portuguese architect and set designer João Mendes Ribeiro has converted the former house of a poet into a writer’s retreat (photos: Do Mal o Menos).

Located in Coimbra, Casa da Escrita was formally named Casa do Arco and housed the late Portuguese poet João Cochofel (1919-1982).

The converted house now provides an archive, writing quarters and temporary accommodation for practicing writers.

The decorative ceilings and corniced walls of the historic house are painted white, while the rooms are filled with polished wooden furniture.

The legs of a newly inserted timber staircase enclose a shelved storage area below, whilst bookshelves are housed within rotating walls nearby.

The open archive is located in the attic, where lines of desks provide workstations for researchers.

Similar renovation projects from the Dezeen archive include a house with floating wooden treads, another with unfinished timber furniture and an apartment with folding doors and sliding walls.

More information is provided by the architects:

Recently awarded the Diogo Castilho 2011 Architectural Prize, the Casa da Escrita ñ former Casa do Arco and residence of the poet João Cochofel is located in the old upper part of Coimbra and is inserted in a dense urban set of predominantly residential narrow winding streets.

The program asked for the contemporary reuse of the building, adaptating it to new functions, reconciling patrimonial and symbolic values with the present demands for comfort and flexibility embodied in the “emptying” and simplification of the living spaces.

Moreover, all the furnish of Casa da Escrita was carefully selected in order to provide the adequacy of the new spaces to a new functional program and to a wide audience, without setting aside the reference to the original space and the houseís atmosphere of comfort and intimacy.

The house is now an open archive, writing workshop and temporary residence for writers supporting a broad set of different activities and interactions between literary writing and other artistic creations.

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

Click above for larger image

See also:

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