24/08/2026
The rehabilitated building is located in Passeio das Fontaínhas, a consolidated urban area, and a part of the Special Protection Zone (ZEP) of the Historic Center of Porto – between Luiz I Bridge and the Serra do Pilar Monastery, integrating an urban perimeter of heritage valued and classified buildings, or in the process of being classified, in the historic center of Porto.
The building complex was erected in the second half of the 19th century, in 1868, as a family house, and subsequently, about two decades after the building permit was granted, it was renovated and expanded, with two new floors added to the original two.
The pre-existing building was in a very precarious state, with part of it in partial ruin, and the stairscase were very narrow and did not comply with the legal requirements for safety, accessibility, comfort, and health. This circumstance led to the replacement of part of the floor slabs and the central wooden staircase, with a new one of regulatory dimensions, made of CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber). This solution met the requirements defined by the design team, promoting prefabrication and factory manufacturing, which significantly reduced the ex*****on time, without abandoning the use of a material with low embodied energy and that stores carbon, helping to reduce CO₂ emissions.
In parallel, a solution with a greater sense of spaciousness was promoted, combining the visual comfort of wood with the tectonic and raw characteristic of the existing granite walls and the new thermal block partitions, painted in a soft blue that translates the refraction of light.
CREA - Arquitetos
Collective Housing in Passeio das Fontaínhas (2026)
Porto, Portugal
Photos by António Ataíde
CREA — Arquitetos