CASA 119 | Nuno Alves de Carvalho . URBAstudios

Located in a 1958 social housing building in the city of Porto, this apartment is defined by a family program of 3 bedrooms in a reduced area of 48m2. Close to universities and central located, the client wanted to remodel the apartment with a limited budget in order to rent it to 3 university students.

 Included in social neighborhood, where there is usually a strong sense of community and space sharing, the remodeling of this apartment was a challenge to reinterpret this type of housing and the relationship between social and private space.

Based on the premise that this would be an apartment to share where the 3 bedrooms would be kept, the concept approach aimed to expand the visual field of all spaces in order to obtain a visual continuity between spaces and allow social interaction between all environments.

This visual/ spatial extension was achieved by creating a single social area (living room + kitchen) and by opening windows in the bedrooms to this common space. This link between spaces creates a flexible relationship between the private and the shared areas, contributing to an appropriation of the space as a whole.

These interior windows have wooden shutters that allow different levels of contact/ connection with the social space through the different possibilities of opening. When closed they give total privacy. The possibility of changing the configuration, activating or deactivating scenarios, makes the spaces more adaptable to life in small and shared spaces.

The materials used are simple and neutral. The entire apartment has been painted white and the floor is made of pine wood. The small bathroom has also been painted white, including the floor. A floor-to-ceiling mirror was also placed next to the washbasin, providing greater depth.

The color was used only in the connections between spaces (openings/ shutters) and in the “loose” elements such as wardrobes and kitchen, reinforcing the idea of unity and interconnection between spaces