Miguel Bombarda Residential Building / Paula Santos Arquitectura

© Ivo Tavares Studio

Completed in 2019 by Portuguese architecture firm Paula Santos Arquitectura, the Miguel Bombarda Building aimed to rebuild and expand a residential structure on one of Porto’s most emblematic streets, Rua Miguel Bombarda, where several art galleries are located. The depth of the lot allowed the design of a garden and also of another autonomous building.

Miguel Bombarda Residential Building Technical Information

The granite balcony has been maintained and, together with the solid brick placed on the ground floor, represents the facade’s main features.

Miguel Bombarda Residential Building Photographs
Miguel Bombarda Residential Building / Paula Santos Arquitectura

© Ivo Tavares Studio

Miguel Bombarda Residential Building / Paula Santos Arquitectura

© Ivo Tavares Studio

Miguel Bombarda Residential Building / Paula Santos Arquitectura

© Ivo Tavares Studio

Miguel Bombarda Residential Building / Paula Santos Arquitectura

© Ivo Tavares Studio

Miguel Bombarda Residential Building / Paula Santos Arquitectura

© Ivo Tavares Studio

Miguel Bombarda Residential Building / Paula Santos Arquitectura

© Ivo Tavares Studio

Text by the Architects

The existing building, already showing some signs of degradation, was of little relevance. The depth of the lot allowed the design of a garden and also of another autonomous building.

The project made very little use of the existing structure, except for the main facade wall and the respective spans, the metrics of which were preserved. The beautiful granite balcony has also been maintained and, together with the solid brick placed on the ground floor, represents the facade’s main features.

A wide side corridor gives access to the building’s entrance, the stairway, and the lift and it still allows foreseeing the passage to the garden inside the block, uneven with the street. The vertical accesses are illuminated through a skylight.

Inside each home, concrete is the predominant material as well as in all common areas.

Inside the lot, overlooking the neighbors’ gardens, the back facade was designed with a solid brick cladding at its base. The other autonomous construction was also designed with solid brick cladding placed horizontally and vertically.

Eight of the ten houses in the building are of a one-bedroom type. Two-bedroom type duplex houses were designed to solve the building’s base and top on the first and last floors. Inside each home, concrete is the predominant material as well as in all common areas.

Miguel Bombarda Residential Building Plans
Miguel Bombarda Residential Building / Paula Santos Arquitectura

Elevations | Courtesy of Paula Santos Arquitectura

Miguel Bombarda Residential Building / Paula Santos Arquitectura

Longitudinal Section | Courtesy of Paula Santos Arquitectura

Miguel Bombarda Residential Building Image Gallery
About Paula Santos Arquitectura

The studio has spent over twenty years designing and building numerous projects, public and private commissioning, a rigorous work method, and respecting the fundamental construction rules. Different programs and typologies, different scales, ephemeral works, or object design, every project seeks a formal, functional, and constructive coherence. 

Other works from Paula Santos Arquitectura  

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