What was once a civil courtroom now unfolds as a place to dwell. The former institutional structure has been reconfigured into 16 long-stay residential units, transforming civic rigidity into domestic spatiality through a position of critical reuse and architectural editing.
Project name
Vila Catarina Apartments
Architecture firm
MASSLAB
Photography
Ivo Tavares Studio
Principal architect
Lourenço Menezes Rodrigues
Design team
Fábio Teixeira Ferreira; Pedro Machado; Marta Vaz
Environmental & MEP engineering
Structural engineer
NCREP
Typology
Residential › Apartment
In the heart of Porto, a noble staircase crowned by the skylight that once illuminated. Built in the mid-19th century to be the house of a Douro nobleman, the building's fame was consolidated over time by the meticulous decoration of the woodwork, framed within the compositional rigour of the 19th-century facade, and the incredible staircase in the...
Project name
Antigo Hotel do Louvre
Architecture firm
Diana Barros Arquitectura
Photography
Ivo Tavares Studio
Principal architect
Diana Barros
Collaborators
Marcos Maia; Joana Fernandes, DAJ Engenheiros Associados
Structural engineer
NCREP – Consultoria em reabilitação do edificado e património
Construction
FL Construções
Typology
Residential Architecture › Housing
