São Francisco

São Francisco
© João Morgado

SÃO FRANCISCO

Filipe Pina

ARCHITECTS
Filipe Pina

MANUFACTUERERS
Azulima, Extrusal, Ofa, Primus Vitória, Sanindusa

ARCHITECT IN CHARGE
Filipe Pina

TEAM
Filipe Pina, Romeu Dinis

PHOTOGRAPHS
João Morgado

AREA
275 m²

YEAR
2017

LOCATION
Guarda, Portugal

CATEGORY
House

São Francisco
© João Morgado

Text description provided by architect.

Located in the city centre of Guarda, this is an urban typical house of the first half of the 20th century, presenting 3 sides and a garden.

The surrounding buildings are characterised by several types of construction, a consequence of the suc-cessive city urbanistic growth stages.

São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado

The clients (and also friends) wanted a pragmatic solution to the project, "willing to renew and rehabilitate the house with minimum demolition and in the most economical way".

The optimal conditions and building characteristics of the house allowed for a good project development.

São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado

Soon we understood that the living spaces of the house needed to be simplified, as it did show some old-fashioned elements added over time by the different owners, with external parts losing their coherence and some gloomy interiors agglomerated in quite messy, obsolete and isolated rooms.

We kept the original functional layout of the house, where we only inserted few changes in view of adapting it to actual modern requirements, namely for the kitchen, toilets and bathrooms, and very seldom demolitions which allowed new internal paths.

São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado

It was also decided to keep the original floors, wooden structures, some the roof and surfaces. 

Now the house lives from its inside where all spaces merge into one unique light and bright room.

Therefore, the initial goal was achieved, with São Francisco being a clear and objective solution to the clients' needs and requirements, on top of an enhanced friendship, with costs in line with the initial estimates of approximatively 280€/m².

São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado


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© João Morgado
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© João Morgado
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© João Morgado
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© João Morgado
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© João Morgado
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© João Morgado
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© João Morgado
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São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado
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© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado
São Francisco
© João Morgado


São Francisco
Ground Floor Plan
São Francisco
Upper Floor Plan