casa no principe real by camarim arquitectos in portugal

‘casa no principe real’ by camarim arquitectos in portugal
photo © nelson garrido
all images courtesy of camarim arquitectos

winning the first prize in the architecture category of the 13th ASCER tile of spain awards with the project entitled ‘casa no principe real’, camarim arquitectos present the restauration of a house in lisbon that involved installing an original ceramic tile facade. designboom met the portuguese architecture duo at the 2015 CEVISAMA trade fair in valencia to speak about the project.

photo © nelson garrido

the jury highlighted ‘the brilliant interpretation of the use of ceramic in the historical area of lisbon. ‘what impressed the jury here was the sensitive use of traditional ceramic tile elements on the facades around the window and door recesses, placed strategically in this renovation of an existing building.’ says architect ángel luis rocamora. the glazed ceramics were used in different elements of the construction and bring a particular light vibration in the spaces of transition between the interior and the exterior of the house.

camarim arquitectos (vasco matias correia and patrícia ferreira de sousa) proudly with the tile of spain award
image © designboom

located several meters from the ‘garden of príncipe real’ in lisbon, portugal, a 41 square meter plot has allowed camarim arquitectos to construct a small five-storey urban house for a family. the exiguity of the land has led the designers to a scheme where each floor has a different function and layout. the levels connect to one another through a vertical atrium of variable geometry, providing a naturally-lit, cadenced, progressive route. in addition to its spatial qualities, the large void works as a thermal chimney for passive cooling during spring and summer and allows air renewal throughout the year.

the building’s skin is a contemporary approach to the façade system covering the former structure, which was in advanced state of decay. in response, a set of rules were defined to transform the original motif of the panels into an abstract pattern, embodied in three distinct media: a flat-tile base, a bas-relief-tile body, and a perforated-steel, light-permeable, entablature.

historical area of lisbon
photo © nelson garrido

‘hard as it would be to plan a typical construction site in such a small plot, we opted for a light steel construction system – LSF – which has an excellent thermal and acoustic performance. it is the first building in lisbon made with this system,’ camarim said.

photo © nelson garrido  

photo © nelson garrido

photo © nelson garrido

photo © nelson garrido 

photo © nelson garrido

photo © nelson garrido

image © camarim

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here. 

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