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Irregularly placed square openings puncture the thick concrete exterior of SV House in Portugal, recently completed by architecture studio Spaceworkers.
Located on a sloping site near the town of Sobrado, the blocky, three-storey home occupies a plot once occupied by the home of the client’s grandfather.
It is formed from board-marked concrete, designed by Spaceworkers to “stand out” but also present a “quiet silence” to the street, while the square openings are positioned to frame outward views while maintaining privacy.
“Openings for the different spaces go beyond the mere need for ventilation and natural ventilation,” explained Spaceworkers.
“From the outside, they are an important element in the composition of the elevations and in the perception of the occupation of the house, but without revealing too much,” the studio said.
“Internally, these openings focus on framing pieces of the distant landscape, or even the sky, avoiding the surroundings punctuated by houses.”
Due to the sloping site, the entrance to SV House sits off the street at first-floor level, with a ramped driveway leading to a garage on the ground floor.
While only two openings overlook the street, to the south of the home are sliding doors that connect a double-height living area to a private garden.
A central, skylit staircase leads up to the second floor, where the bedrooms enjoy expansive views of the landscape through the square windows.
“Each space has a critical look at a particular point in the landscape, allowing users different views of the same landscape depending on the position and size of the window they are looking at,” explained Spaceworkers.
Contrasting the sheer concrete exterior, the interiors of SV House are finished with pale wood and white walls, with minimal window frames that emphasise the deep reveals.
“On the outside, the use of exposed concrete emphasises the idea of solidity that we wanted to express in contrast to the light wood and white walls of the interior that express lightness,” explained the studio.
“It is also in this dichotomy that the house relates to its neighbours and with those who inhabit it and walk through its spaces.”
Portuguese architecture studio Spaceworkers was established by Rui Dinis, Henrique Marques and Carla Duarte in 2007.
Previous projects by the studio include the Romanesque architecture interpretation centre in Lousada, which was also designed with blocky concrete forms, and a house with a concrete roof and concave sides.
The photography is by Fernando Guerra.
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