helder de carvalho: house AADD in portugal

‘house AADD’ by helder de carvalho, marco de canaveses, portugalimage © jose camposall images courtesy of jose campos

in the rural area of vila boa de quires just east of porto, the ‘house AADD’ by portuguese architect helder de carvalho enjoys elevated views of the faraway horizon and green inland scenery. two stacked boxes, a regular white square on a darker inset rectangle creates a dichotomy, offer a visibly public structure with a private mass hidden in its shadows. the entrance takes the user over a series of protruding concrete platforms around a solitary olive tree, an organic touch in front of a rectilinear form. three bedrooms and two living rooms enjoy the company of various qualities of light through the different apertures and terraces that interrupt the continuity of the tiled outer skin. the lower area contains the kitchen, dining, and social gathering area along with the garage, using the overhang of the primary program to provide much needed shade in the summer months. while the superior volume lives in the sun, the inferior volume lives in the absence of direct light, where a series of edges controls and defines the character of illumination. a skylight floods the hidden void between the site and the lower structure with light without overheating, a powerful element in a dark chasm. the interior in contrast is much more integrated with double-height spaces and visually connected rooms between the two levels. a natural stone wall cuts through the floors also joining the elements with a single plane.

image © jose campos

front elevationimage © jose campos

entryimage © jose campos

images © jose campos

image © jose campos

entranceimage © jose campos

view from the entry to the siteimage © jose campos

view from the yardimage © jose campos

lower dining area with stone wall that continues into the upstairsimage © jose campos

living room with double-height stone wall connects the upstairs with the downstairsimage © jose campos

work deskimage © jose campos

simple geometries in natural materials define interior fixturesimage © jose campos

image © jose campos

stairsimage © jose campos

central stairwellimage © jose campos

simple interior details and retractable doors section off different areasimage © jose campos

intermediate corridor with large windowsimage © jose campos

corridor into bedroomimage © jose campos

captionimage © jose campos

dark area between the lower volume and retaining wall lit by the void aboveimage © jose campos

view from under the main volume into the yardimage © jose campos

floor plan / level 0

floor plan / level 1

section

elevation

elevation

elevation

elevation

project info:

architecture: galeria gabinete by helder de carvalhoengineering: jasmim reiscollaborators: carla zuzarte, cláudio ferreira, michael ferreira, sérgio azevedo, sidónio de jesuslocation: vila boa de quires – marco de canaveses, portugalbuilt: 2012