Pedro Ferreira Architecture Studio has refurbished a 19th-century townhouse in the heart of the reborn Porto downtown. In response to the increasing numbers of tourists visiting the city, the architects were commissioned to convert the Santa Teresa building into the largest possible number of rental apartments. The architects maintained the entire building structure, floors, walls, ceilings, doors and windows with their formal characteristics and unique tectonic, integrating small white, unpretentious and abstract boxes that house the new program elements such as kitchens and homes bath, in order to define the difference between the old and new.
The result are nine contemporary apartments, where the light plays a fundamental role in the space design. A single apartment occupies the area on the ground floor, while the attic accommodates two units with mezzanine floors and outdoor spaces.
all images © João Morgado