This is a project for the restoration of a heritage-protected building in Foz Velha. It includes a doorway that belongs to a 14th-century construction, being cited in the classification municipal paper that this element is contemporary to the Castle of Foz. Medieval elements in the layered-by-time ruin strengthen the building’s ownership of the value of antiquity.
Medieval European constructions that reached our times emphasised enclosure from the public space. Coincidentally, contemporary local architectural tendencies seem to emphasise enclosure. Therefore, the project is based on the purpose of maintaining this character of the exterior shape — solid appearance closed to the exterior, giving privacy and tranquility from an increasingly overburdened world.
The project of a double bedroom, single family house comprises the creation of a new floor with a generous terrace using much of the original granite complemented by travertine and wood. The use of natural materials with the interplay of shadow and light has created a 21st-century space with respect for the past, and an eye to the future.