Apartment Building on Rua Roberto Ivens

Aside from orientation and urban alignments, the project draws little from its surroundings, which reflect the material and architectural heterogeneity resulting from five decades of rapid, unregulated growth. In terms of orientation, the plot’s east-facing rear and west-facing street front led to placing bedrooms toward the quieter courtyard, benefiting from morning light, and living areas toward the street, enjoying afternoon light. As for the alignments, the key constraint was the uneven plot depth — 15m on one side, 19m on the other — defined by the rear façade of the adjacent buildings.

From a structural standpoint, the building is conceived as a four-partite portico with a span of about 3 meters. This allowed modulation of the bedrooms on the rear façade and resolved misalignments with neighboring buildings. Hierarchically, social areas were prioritized over private ones. For this, the floor plans were designed from back to front: master bedrooms parallel to the façade with minimal depth; staircase and elevator shaft at minimum legal widths; service bathrooms at practical minimum widths; and living rooms with maximum depth. This resulted in generous living rooms of approximately 11 by 5 meters, facing the treetops of Rua Roberto Ivens’s plane trees, combining living, dining, and kitchen areas. To preserve the integrity of these spaces while opening them to the exterior, a façade system was designed in which a sash window slides below the parapet, transforming the living rooms into balconies — since balconies are, after all, no more than "fully opened living rooms".

The building uses as many natural and as few synthetic materials as possible, adopting durable solutions requiring minimal maintenance (e.g. exposed concrete façades and stone pavements). Every decision regarding materials and construction was guided by 3 questions: 1.How much does it cost? —Construction cost was €2000/m², average for mid-range housing in Portugal. 2.Who benefits from the act of consumption? —Materials are mostly extracted or manufactured within 350km (concrete—9km, steel—20km, brick—90km, cement—200km, sand—30km, plaster—180km, stone—320km, tiles—340km, aluminum—4km,glass—110km), promoting the local economy and transparent supply chains. —Construction techniques rely on local skilled labor, strengthening building culture and encouraging knowledge transmission. 3.What is the environmental impact? —Preference for natural, locally sourced materials with low maintenance aims to achieve a building with a reduced carbon footprint throughout its construction and life cycle.