View Full Version : Reconstruction an old house.
Hi. This my first post here (i think) but i've been following this board for a while. Great board by the way.
So i've decided to share with you some of my projects, and maybe some WIP. (if you like, of course.)
Here's the first.
This is a reconstruction of an house near Lisbon, Portugal.
The project dates from 2004, and it's construction is terminating now.
The theme of the concept was 'a window to the river', since the house has an incredible view to the Tagus river. The view was so beautiful and strong that the project just lies around that concept.
Its a 'contrast design', that is, the old and the new architecture are side by side. Some may like, some may not.
19573
Hi Morphos.
Welcome to PPB!
Please attach your images(ie. use the image upload tool) so that we can view them- I don't see anything in the post above.
Another exterior view:
19574
Here are some horizontal sections showing the interior.
19577
And some internal renderings:
19580
19582
Any comments are welcome.
PS, the project was designed using sketchup, kinda new software at the time, and rendered with maxwell / lightscape.
Some pictures of the REAL thing may follow....
Regards
Looking fantastic by the renders. I'm very very curious to see the construction pics...
Can you explain a little bit more about the plans? Seems to me that you have only one bathroom for three bedrooms, is it right? And what happen in the ground floor?
Welcome to [PPB]˛ and congratulations for a nice project!:cheers:
sigue2000
20-07-2006, 21:52
Hi Morphos, very nice visuals. :rock on:
How much of the project is old substance? Is the roof on the old house new and lifted to produce that sexy slice effect?
How is the big window shaded?
Could you explain the layout of the plans. How many inhabitants, etc. ...
Pedro Barradas
20-07-2006, 22:01
Hy, morphos... a real controverse design, along with the informations requested from the fellows, I really like to see contruction pictures....
Is that located in Amora, Seixal?
Some constructive details solutions I see from the 3D , are expensive, didi you maintain those during construction process?
Hope to see more... :cheers:
Juan Gomez-Velez
21-07-2006, 00:28
Morphos
Welcome to the Forum, Thank you for sharing your work.
Some comments
The idea of making a rehabilitation and expansion of an existing structure that has a strong historic, or contextual tectonic vocabulary is always a challenge. Your initial statement seems somewhat defensive, everything we do will prove to be agreeable to some and unacceptable to others. The important thing is to be intentional, to do so deliberately.
I feel you have.
Some questions
What restraints, if any do the city or national rules regulations or codes impose upon you? Is there anything you must preserve? If so, what?
For these past fifty years, in the Historic Section of Old San Juan certain elements must be preserved in any or all interventions, it would be interesting to know if you must manage similar things.
What happens on the first floor?
What is the use of the new volume, two bedrooms? a large Master Bedroom and bathroom?
Your interior finishes of the hipped roof suggest a new roof, is this true? If so, did you use the same type of roof as in the existing structure?
Overall you have a very attractive, clean and strong design proposal, with a good sense of livability, enclosure and circulation to it. Your presentation is very appealing.
Congratulations, everything we get to build is a valuable lesson and our only true gratification. My best wishes to you, thank you for sharing.
Saludos
Juan
franjayo
21-07-2006, 01:08
Morphos,
Welcome, I like your project. Clear concept, to differentiate the new from the old, very clear.
As Juan explained, our regulations in the OLd City tend to be very conservative and would strongly try to prevent such a contrast. They offer good tax exemptions to those designs who submit to the preservationist view and regulation and make it very difficult an approval that goes against regulations.
I admire this approach whe done right, such as in your case. I always brign to the ayyention of purists that in many European examples, where they have architecture that dates back thousands of years instead of hundreds like ours, this approach is valid. I remember in the old part of Gerona, Spain, in the architects' association building, which I visited many years ago, they had modern clear glass walls right against other walls that were probably thousands of years old, clearly making an elegant distinction between the old and the new.
More details and photos would be welcome.
BruceWalker
21-07-2006, 03:52
You are right - some may not like it.
My personal view is that trying to add onto a building with that much heritage (it looks quite old), you can only balls it up by trying to match existing.
So, if you're going to contrast, you may as well go all out. Well done - I think your design looks great and works with the existing in some strange way. Your detailing (the second interior shot) is fantastic.
I hope you share some more of your projects.
@ all. Thank you for your comments. I'm glad you like it. :)
Here's some pictures of the real thing.
Exterior:
19591
The view i was talking about :
(from inside the new volume)
19593
Now ill explain a litle bit more:
About the layout:
The client is a mid-age couple, with two children. The father is an accountant, the mother a teacher, the boy studies art, and the litle one is... a pretty girl)
The ideia was to reconstruct the old house, considerating the family profile, and taking the most of the view.
I was asked to reserve the ground floor for a small shop / atelier and an office for the father. So the left space is a shop and the right one is the office. Both have a small WC, and some cabinets.
As for the volume it was to be an working space (for painting and writing) but later i was told they wanted to consider it as a bedroom, and asked to design a bathroom for it. And so we did it, and now they will use the whole volume as master bedroom. (ill post later some drawings of the new bathroom).
@Digdoi: Thanks!. There are 2 bathroom an 2 wc in the house. (The model is not very explicit, sorry)
@ Pedro Barradas: Yes is located in Amora - Seixal (here is the kmz):
19598
@sigue2000: About the roof: The inicial ideia was to recicle the old roof tiles. But they were in bad shape, so now its a new roof... :(.
The slice under the roof was the solution that we found to gain some extra space for the mezzanine, without making the exterior visualy heavy. It simultaneously assumes that something new happened there, without masking it.
@Juan Gomez: Well there are regulations for the area. We had to preserve the facades and what was of historic value. But those regulations are out-dated and didn't produced, so far any results. The architects of the municipality know that and saw this project as a valid aproach tho the site.
Literally this project does not violates any rules, because regulations didn't predicted this kinf of aproach. They just are out-dated.
@Brucewalker: So, if you're going to contrast, you may as well go all out.
That also my view... so we did. And i still don't have second toughts about that.
There are some credits that i must mention. I did this project working two young architects that contributed with their effort to make this happen. They are Vaninoga (nickname) and Bruno Ramos (thats not a nickname..ehehe).
primocordara
21-07-2006, 13:59
@ Pedro Barradas: Yes is located in Amora - Seixal (here is the kmz):
19598
Legal!!:rock on:
Wow! The similarity between your renders and the real thing is amazing! Did the renders really came first?:D
:not worth Great work :not worth
Yes they did came first...
They actualy helped to build the thing, because the workers didn't fully understood the construction drawings. :)
I was just joking...:D
It's very difficult to make it to the construction with so little or no changes like you did. Congratulations again.
The view i was talking about :
(from inside the new volume)
now for some tree pruning? looks as if the tree is getting a bit in the way of the full view...
looks good. thanks for posting more!
sigue2000
21-07-2006, 17:12
It's coming out great. Congrats to the precise result of a clean design.:clap: :clap:
Simply beautiful. You've done a great job with this, congratulations!!
I love how the corner of the mezzanine floor very solid and floating. I see that in the construction you had to build under that and it's not floating anymore. Probably a structual issue, am I right? Wasn't it possible to use a slim iron column instead of completing the whole box to maintain it's lightness?
Is that thing still a fireplace or what we see in the picture is a tv? How is the detail of the hole in the roof going? Can we see pictures of that?
Also what about heat? Won't it be extremely hot when sun comes in without any shading?
I love the language you used. It's very like "contemporary portuguese" with the play of pure white volumes. If blends perfectly with the traditional architecture of the house.
great design!!!!!if its possible,would you be able to post the before pic's?id like to see the before.
Just Great! Award Quality! Congrats!
kwistenbiebel
23-07-2006, 00:06
i am surprised to see how a small gesture can have so much effect.
The room really 'eyeballs' the surrounding.
Nice solution given to the pronounciation of the volume.
As the new annex 'contrasts' with the existing building in formal language...it is 'blended' in at the same time in terms of proportions.
The room with a view concept reminds me of a similar play by David chipperfield. (see pic)
Looking forward to new site updates.
Well done.
Excelente mts parabéns dum colega arquitecto...:not worth :not worth :not worth :not worth
The room with a view concept reminds me of a similar play by David chipperfield. (see pic)
That looks like a very interesting design, do you have any more info on the building mate?
Axie, here it is ELCROQUIS PDF (http://www.elcroquis.es/media/pdf/Articulos/120_CORRUBEDO.pdf). Private holiday house of David Chipperfield in Corrubedo, northern Spain.
@ ALL. Thank you for your comments.
@ Cacapis: The 'floating' wall over fireplace fall when the owner 'forgot' the blueprints and bought one standard fireplace. That pissed me off... :mad:
And the openning on the roof... that's gone too. Now it will held some lights tubes...
It's not easy to get a project to be followed from a to z.... Especialy when you have a client that is an accountant... :)
@blipnit: Here's and photo of the original house.
19673
@ kwistenbiebel
Chipperfield is one of my references too. And that project might have been in the back of my head while designing, who knows.... But what stroke me was the idea of a floating window. I was searching for an idea that might be strong enought and that survive the hole process of design/construction. And when it came... i didn't let go.
Here's the image that stuck into my head... i was playing with sketchup and MAX.
19674
Hi Morphos.
Welcome to PPB!
Please attach your images(ie. use the image upload tool) so that we can view them- I don't see anything in the post above.
i think this was forgotten because everyone's blown away by the project.
Morphos, could you please attach your images (no bigger than 700x700) to each post (edit post) instead of external links so that the images will be here with the forum?
Cheers
@ itam: Obrigado!
As i said before, the owner ask us to to adapt the new volume space to a master bedroom with a bathroom. But we felt the that wasn't the right use for that space. We didn't wanted to fill that space with tiles, sanitary fixtures, etc.
So we came along this solution:
19675
The bathtub may be instaled later... or not. With this solution the owner will be able to reverse the use of that space to the original plan.
A perspective of the interior, converted in a bathroom.
19676
Regards
Morphos, could you please attach your images
Morphos, could you please attach your images (no bigger than 700x700) to each post (edit post) instead of external links so that the images will be here with the forum?
Cheers
__________
@ SWANK-E
I think i already did that... I uploaded all the images, one by post. Does it still shows external links???
@ SWANK-E
I think i already did that... I uploaded all the images, one by post. Does it still shows external links???
As far as I can tell morphos they are now attached permanently to PPB... by the way, thanks for posting the pic of the existing house the way it was... simply incredible what you have done and how much the house will change... great job...
Morphos, could you please attach your images
@SWANK-E: Since my second post that i've used the attachments tool, and i have removed all the external links.
I have re-checked all the images and as far as i can tell they are attachments, less than 700px, one by post. There are no external links. Could you guide-me a litle bit more?
Regards
thiago7000
24-07-2006, 23:49
What more can I say... it looks perfect to me. I feel some influence of Alvaro Siza too, am I right?! I love that man´s work...
@ Cacapis: The 'floating' wall over fireplace fall when the owner 'forgot' the blueprints and bought one standard fireplace. That pissed me off... :mad:
And the openning on the roof... that's gone too. Now it will held some lights tubes...
It's not easy to get a project to be followed from a to z.... Especialy when you have a client that is an accountant... :)
That's really sad.
I thought the fireplace with the opening in the roof was really nice.
But at the of the day the accountant has to live in it and has to be happy with it. And nevertheless he went quite far anyway.
Congratulations.
@ Cacapis: The 'floating' wall over fireplace fall when the owner 'forgot' the blueprints and bought one standard fireplace. That pissed me off... :mad:
And the openning on the roof... that's gone too. Now it will held some lights tubes...
It's not easy to get a project to be followed from a to z.... Especialy when you have a client that is an accountant... :)
Sorry that I put my finger on the wound, but that's precisely why I asked. The best details are often what's hardest to build (coulnd't he return the fireplace?). It's a pity to see such a nice design trashed by a foolish decision by the owner, but nevertheless you're really lucky to be able to do a project like this.
susanmoses
25-07-2006, 08:02
Congrats on a super conversion... truly inspiring work morphos!
mechaneko
25-07-2006, 13:41
great work! at first, after seeing the 3d gens, i thought that the real thing won't look as great as it but after seeing your construction pics, i'm totally amazed! though a few glitches came along the way , they were quite minor and the end result is still spectacular. should have this project hung in your trophy room. congrats!
nancyboy
06-08-2006, 10:02
BEAUTIFUL
what can I say!
drummond
09-08-2006, 23:06
Coming to this party a little late, but I too am completely enthralled by the well executed contrast between old and new.When you try and describe an approach like this to a client or worse still a municipal beaurocrat, it is a difficult conversation.I hope you dont mind me using your design as an example of how it can in fact be done, and done with such elegance and style.
Thank you for sharing this us.
iraqi-architect
10-08-2006, 13:17
your job is interesting.....but you said that you are working side by side with traditional house.so what is your deal with the urban fabric of lisbon
i couldn't find any surrounding buildings or landscapes in your perspectives
thank you for sharing.....and i hope to see more interesting projects form you
Pedro Barradas
10-08-2006, 13:27
Did´t know if you opened the kmz, so here is the GOOGLEarth image...
*good job Morphos...congratulations!
your job is interesting.....but you said that you are working side by side with traditional house.so what is your deal with the urban fabric of lisbon
i couldn't find any surrounding buildings or landscapes in your perspectives
Well, the surroundings were taken into consideration. But we didn't try to mimic them... They have influenced the hole project, like the shape and orientation of the new building and the materials used in the reconstruction of the old part.
But the ideia was to mark the two moments of the history of the building, And those moments apear side by side.
thank you for sharing.....and i hope to see more interesting projects form you
Thank you (all) for your comments. I'm glad you liked it. :) :) :)
shmoolikipod
16-08-2006, 08:02
Did´t know if you opened the kmz, so here is the GOOGLEarth image...
What's the brown surface? is it water? field? murky sewage?
What's the brown surface? is it water? field? murky sewage?
That's the Tagus river. Check post #20.
zandroos
29-08-2006, 11:37
Can't stop looking at it, a beautifull example of the old and the new made into one. Congratulations!
Very successful, the contrast is done in such a way that the new and existing seem to merge at places, but they each maintain their own identity.
It is amazing how true the final product was to your intial design.
Thanks for sharing
monika_cca
15-09-2006, 16:00
hey...awesum job ..best combination two types of structures..:rock on:
very inspiring project :)
congratulations Morphos!
Ana Rosa
29-12-2006, 05:55
I think that the result is very harmonious!
Congratulations
=]
kwistenbiebel
30-12-2006, 23:18
Morphos,
I will be visiting Lisbon (we stay at the Novotel) next week (31 dec. until 5 jan.).
I would really like to see this project since it is so pure...Could you PM me the adres so I can take a look and see it in real live?
I should have asked this earlier (tomorrow morning 11.00 AM CET i leave )
Hopefully you see this by then. I hope i can get on the internet to check the forum while i am there....
BTW: any other great architectural masterpieces i should visit in Lisbon?
Thanks in advance,
kwistenbiebel
You must visit Calatrava´s bus and railway terminal.
@ kwistenbiebel
Sorry mate... i guess i'm too late. I have been out (short vacations) and only read your post today. :S
I guess you're already flying home... :(
It would be a pleasure to show you the Amora's house... but be warned: it looks better in photos. Since the owner moved in, the house has been under a serious decoration wave (or rage...) I don't think you'll see any white walls.
As for Lisbon you could visit: Siza's Expo98 Pavilion, the Atlantic Expo98 Pavilion, yes the Calatrava's Rail Station, Some fantactic bird's eye views from the Cristo-Rei Monument... and drink some beers on the 'Docas' by the river.... :)
The northend part off the country is more suitable to an architectural visit, since Siza and Souto Moura have more influence there (and works).
If you've been to Porto i hope you did'nt forgot to visit Koolhaas's Casa da Musica.
Again, i'm sorry being late...
Have a safe return.
Ps: i'll check back later to read your impressions from Lisbon.
kwistenbiebel
09-01-2007, 11:34
...Thank you Morphos, Barradas and Void (last 2 in pm) for giving me those guidelines for visiting Lisbon.
We had a great time in Lisbon and liked the city very much.
Here some impressions:
New years eve Fireworks on praca di comercio is unforgettable...The view from the castle towards the city is amazing....the 'copy' of the San fransisco bridge looks surprisingly spooky but quite beautiful in fog...Sizas pavillon is a strong project although not 'stand alone' enough in the expo98's masterplan.... Quite strange how the rest of the nineties expo architecture looks so old already (the high-tech 'vasco da gama' tower is even closed due to 'technical' problems )...
The 'tree' allegory that Calatrava plays out in the roof of his station (Oriente) is great high-tech engineering ( for those who like it)....Seeing the whole Lisbon-Dakar circus in front of the Belems monastery is a culture shock :) ....
Whole Lisbon breaths its history of explorers and navigators (tower of Belem, monastery, the stairs on praca di comercio, the museums, the old quarters,..)... Portuguese people are very hospitable and relaxed (even without speaking portuguese)....
Yep, definitely going back there some time....In summer we plan to visit Porto (so much going on there on the architectural field) and some rural areas...
Sorry for the off topic....:o
Next time i really want to see Morphos project.(@Morphos:thanks for the offer)...In which area of Lisbon is it situated?
@ kwistenbiebel
I'm glad you have enjoyed your stay here in Lisbon.
Although being half french (i was born in Paris) i think that Lisbon is one of the most beatifull cities in Europe (i dont want to start a discussion here - this is just my opinion).
I studied in the Bairro Alto - Belas Artes University, and there i've learn to apreciate the light of the city - Lisbon have a unique bright atmosfere - and the history behind the buildings.
Anyway, returning to the topic, the Amora house is located on the south margin os the Tagus river (you have to cross the 25 April Bridge - and, by the way, its a copy of S. Francisco bridge because it was projected and built by the same company >> American Bridge - and drive to the Seixal city (yes, it is a city ;-) )
If you open the KMZ on the 3rd page you will see its location on Google Earth, relative to the places you already know - Praça do Comércio, the Bridge etc.
Regards
i like your project,its a realy clean design,regards on that,back facade is really good incorporated with the older,a really good example how we should incorporated old and new..:clap:but i think your front facade is a little bit to strong (attack) for the older house..for me it looks like the older house should be disrupt or just waiting to be disrupt..i think a little more respect of the older house shouldbe..
joHanneum Z
14-03-2008, 12:19
Wonderful. Morphos, your work is amazing.
primocordara
14-03-2008, 12:28
hey Morphos, any pictures of the finished house?
boerenkool
08-05-2008, 18:29
Compliments !
beautiful renderings and a nice contrast between new and old styles.
I don't really like how the television hangs on the stairs.. it might be easy to trip over and fall. But that's a minor thing. The overall design is gorgeous
nice work :), really amazing
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