Social Housing, Carvalheiras. Domussocial Porto.

• Client Domus Social
• Date 2018-2022
• Location Rua das Carvalheiras Porto, Portugal
• Photography Filipe Brandão

The proposal intends not to limit itself to the design of living conditions in line with the parameters of contemporary regulations, in a difficult terrain – a narrow lot with a very uneven altimetry, but to use the morphology and topography of the site to generate a housing model that explores possible connections between interior and exterior spaces fostering an environment of domesticity that encourages community bonding.

The existing buildings on site were characterized by constructive precariousness and dysfunctional interior spaces combined with an advanced state of degradation of structural elements and material components. Consequently, all existing buildings were replaced. The new building was implanted to highlight the future lines of expansion of the urban area in consolidation, generating a new urban front, more current and clear. The proposed new building contains elements aligned with a contemporary and more sustainable way of living: maximization of natural lighting and ventilation guaranteed by the allocation of large openings in all compartments; solar panels for heating sanitary water and even a bicycle parking and storage space.

The building is structured by two stairs perpendicular to the street that fragment the volume and organize the development into 4 spatial units per floor, in a total of six one-bedroom and one three-bedroom apartments. All dwellings were designed next to outdoor spaces, encouraging encounters between neighbours, contributing to the awareness of the “collective” and of the common benefits and responsibilities that are an integral part of being a member of these little neighbourhood. These outdoor areas, the garden on the ground floor and the patio on the upper floors, function as public/private transition areas and as a functional extension of the interior spaces – living rooms and kitchens. They were designed for residents to somehow appropriate them, contributing to the overall housing unit, their immediate neighbours and the community of the building as a whole.