SITE SPECIFIC ARQUITECTURA – PATRÍCIA MARQUES E PAULO COSTA
Apartamento em Cascais, Cascais Apartment
Cascais, Portugal
2022-2023
Cliente / Client · privado / private
Equipa de projecto / Team . Tânia Oliveira, António Tenreiro
Fotografia / Photos . Eduardo Nascimento – do mal o menos
Construção / Constructor . J.C. Sampaio Construções, Lda

This project evokes the transformative power of architecture which, through a new design, can decisively alter the life and use of a house, even going against the principles with which it was originally conceived.
The project is located in the middle of the historic center of Cascais, close to the old citadel. It is a 2 bedroom apartment, on the ground floor of an ordinary building built in the 70s.
With a chaotic organization, changed over time by the previous owner, it had a small interior kitchen, in a central position in the house, directly related to the living room, facing north. To the south, two bedrooms and a generous terrace, difficult to access, partially occupied by a temporary annex.
The proposal sought to redesign the interior of the space, proposing to establish a direct relationship between the social areas and the south-facing terrace. Most of the non-structural walls were demolished, respecting the building's infrastructure columns, and the two bathrooms were redesigned. The two bedrooms face north and the living room, with the integrated kitchen, opens to the south through a large glazed opening. The window was designed to guarantee the total opening of the space, allowing the terrace to be in continuity with the social area.

The entire space was covered by a warm white that covers the furniture, walls and microcement floor, and extends to the exterior, creating greater abstraction and allowing this space to be reborn as a space of light.
The exposed timber windows, as well as the concrete structure, now also exposed, raw and bare, aim to intensify the relationship with the primary construction materials.
The result was a space with a simple and fluid design that seeks a close relationship with the outside and natural light.