Rio House

Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio

RIO HOUSE

Paulo Merlini Architects

LEAD ARCHITECTS
Paulo Merlini / André Santos Silva

AREA
350 m²

LOCATION
Portugal

CATEGORY
Houses, House Interiors

YEAR
2020

Text description provided by the architects

The project results from the remodeling of an old farmhouse located in a yet very rural city.

Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio

By disassembling the poor materials of the old facade we discovered that the house was actually made up of three small houses built according to the needs of the former owner.

This was the key premise for the creation of our project, maintaining the structure of the original volumes and assume their original shape uncovered, unifying them through a slab perforated by a central patio that fills with light the entire social area, located on the ground floor.

Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio

A garden roof finish on this central slab offers a new intimate garden to all rooms and private areas of the house.

In terms of materiality, our intention was to create a strong contrast between the two floors. On the ground floor a rougher materiality, denouncing the tectonic of the construction, transmitting the sensation of living inside a granite excavated mass, with a very strong relation with the exterior space.

Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio

And in the upper floor, the geometry of the three original houses is denounced throw their materialization as pure white volumes, flooded with light.

On this floor, the high right feet, the wooden shutters, the white and the wooden floors recreate the feeling of a typical Portuguese country house.


Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio


Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio


Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio


Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio


Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio


Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio
Rio House
© Ivo Tavares Studio


Rio House
Floor Plan
Rio House
Roof Plan
Rio House
Ground Floor Plan
Rio House
Section


Rio House
Diagram
Rio House
Diagram
Rio House
Diagram
Rio House
Diagram
Rio House
Diagram
Rio House
Diagram
Rio House
Diagram