António Bessa Cruz Architects replaces Porto car workshop with industrial-themed home
Exposed concrete, steel-framed windows and handmade bricks reference the formerly industrial site of Agramonte House, a home in Portugal designed by local studio António Bessa Cruz Architects.
The home is located on the site of a former car repair workshop next to Agramonte Cemetery in Porto, which the client had originally planned on converting into a loft-style home.
When this proved structurally impossible, António Bessa Cruz Architects (ABCA) decided to instead replace it with a new-build home that echoed the former industrial building, informing both the material palette and insular, courtyard layout.
"The space lacked any conditions for habitation or straightforward renovation, but the client wanted to convert it into a loft, so I set out to develop an architectural project inspired by that context," founder António Cruz told Dezeen.
"The main challenge was to design a dwelling that ensured abundant natural light, generous open spaces, and minimal to no visual connection with the exterior – particularly avoiding views toward the cemetery," he continued.
"The choice of materials stems from this intention to create a 'loft' atmosphere, achieved through the use of concrete, solid brick, steel and glass partitions, and dark oak wood."
To block out the nearby cemetery, the L-shaped form of Agramonte House presents an almost entirely blank face to the street, save for a row of high-level windows that draw daylight into a central living, dining and kitchen space.
Flanking a large wooden dining table at the centre of this space are two warehouse-like glazed sections, with openable doors and windows framed in gridded black steel. They open onto paved, high-walled courtyards on either side.
The kitchen is wrapped by full-height cupboards finished in dark oak, while in the lounge area, a modular grey sofa is framed by exposed concrete walls opposite a large concrete staircase illuminated by clerestory windows.
In the perpendicular wing of the ground floor, three bedrooms and two bathrooms sit off a brick-lined corridor, each oriented to benefit from views over one of the home's courtyards.
On the smaller first floor, the main bedroom suite features a bed raised on a timber plinth and a walk-in wardrobe lined with dark oak.
In the bedrooms, the exposed concrete walls on the ground floor are swapped for a mixture of white brickwork and larger blockwork walls.
For the bathrooms, a mixture of charcoal-painted blockwork and bricks is accompanied by white tiles with black grout, tubular metal fittings and black-steel screens that continue the industrial feel.
Elsewhere in Porto, local practice Fala Atelier previously transformed a warehouse into a home defined by large, open-plan spaces, and Álvaro Siza recently added an angular concrete extension to a renovated monastery.
The photography is by Alexander Bogorodskiy.
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