G – 5 HOUSES
Summary
ARCHITECTS
Summary
ASSEMBLY
Arouconstroi Sa
PROJECT LEADER
Samuel Gonçalves
EQUIPA
Samuel Gonçalves, Inês Rodrigues, João Meira
PREFABRICATION
Arouconstroi Sa
ENGINEERING
Fts, Technical Solutions
PHOTOGRAPHS
Alexander Bogorodskiy
AREA
835 m²
YEAR
2025
LOCATION
Arouca, Portugal
CATEGORY
Housing
English description provided by the architects.
The project is based on total prefabrication in reinforced concrete. Modular panels make up all the building elements: façades, roofs and interior partitions.
The typification of elements made it possible to speed up and simplify the construction, while emphasising the building's image.
In overall terms, the project houses five dwellings - three with two floors, two with a single floor. On the ground floor, the dwellings have a rectangular and regular plan, each with two free fronts.
On the upper floor there are three separate parallelepiped boxes, irregularly arranged on the large roof slab of the lower floor.
The free space between them is occupied by terraces, accessible by a single flight of stairs from the rear of the building, facing east towards the Serra da Freita.
The prefabricated wall panels form a free span of 6.30 metres between them, constituting vertical load-bearing elements on which pre-slab pieces rest, composing the ground floor roof.
This slab acts as a cutting element in the building's image:
below it, all the modules are made of grey concrete; above it, the concrete is pigmented green, visually separating the three boxes from the base of the building where they rest.
The prefabricated wall panels form a free span of 6.30 metres between them, constituting vertical load-bearing elements on which pre-slab pieces rest, composing the ground floor roof.
This slab acts as a cutting element in the building's image: below it, all the modules are made of grey concrete; above it, the concrete is pigmented green, visually separating the three boxes from the base of the building where they rest.
Interior compartmentalisation is defined by prefabricated panels that act both as bracing and reinforcement of the structure, avoiding the use of additional masonry.
For this reason, concrete is also the most common element inside the building.
However, due to the specific nature of the moulds used to produce these pieces, each one has two different faces - one smooth and one rough.
The project was developed with this in mind, endeavouring to take advantage of the smooth faces whenever possible and concealing the rough faces on surfaces hidden by kitchen equipment, cupboards or ceramic tiles in the sanitary facilities.
Both the ground floor and the upper floor face east and west, favouring natural cross ventilation and good sun exposure, which eliminates the need for any air conditioning or mechanical ventilation system.
