QBN House

QBN House
© jose campos

QBN House

Pardo

ARCHITECTS
Pardo

ARCHITECTS IN CHARGE
Sofia Parente, Andre Delgado

PHOTOGRAPHS
Jose Campos

AREA
360 m²

YEAR
2022

LOCATION
Viana Do Castelo, Portugal

CATEGORY
Houses, Renovation

Text description provided by architect.

QBN house sits at the highest point and west limit of the family farm, in a rural and low-density area of Viana do Castelo.

QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos

The house is surrounded by the greenery of the farm, a landscape characterized by a large variety of trees, flowers, bushes, stone masonry terraces, slate paths, granite water tanks, cultivated fields, and orchards.

The former construction, now refurbished to become the family house, had been a secondary building of the farm, previously used as a school, wine cellar, and agricultural storage, at different periods of its history.

Divided into two stone masonry juxtaposed volumes: a covered but open construction contiguous to the street and a two-story building next to it.

QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos

Facing the street, there is the volume kept in a slate masonry facade, in continuity with the existing external walls.

The Northside is finished with thermo-treated timber vertical strips to match the contiguous timber structured roof.

The gable roof of the two-story building has been changed to the presumably original hip roof, resulting in an increased volume and height of the facade.

QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos

Access to the house is made through the covered area, at the upper floor level, where one finds the entrance, the office, and the passage to the main volume that hosts the common areas of the house and the playroom.

The existing openings were kept and new ones were created so that these reveal the colors of the tree canopies to the inside of the house.

QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos

The main space of the house is the long room with a 13,5m length and a sloped ceiling. This room has different areas: piano area, living and dining room.

The dining area is highlighted by the birch plywood panels, which cover one wall and the sliding door to access the kitchen and continue into one of the kitchen cabinets, marking the way to the outside.

On the lower floor are the private spaces of the house, 3 bedrooms and a living room with access to the garden.

QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos

More traditional solutions were chosen in an attempt to use natural and recyclable materials, such as lime-based plaster for the facades, timber window frames, timber roof structure, floor structure made with timber beams and solid wood panels boards, insulated with expanded cork granules and pavements finished with Riga wood.

The refurbishment of the QBN house aimed to improve the living conditions without detracting from the building’s character, keeping harmony with the other constructions of the farm and respecting its integration into the surroundings.

QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos


QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos


QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos
QBN House
© jose campos


QBN House
Plan 0
QBN House
Plan 1


QBN House
East facade
QBN House
West facade


QBN House
Section A
QBN House
Section B
QBN House
Perspective section C