Luminous house

The surroundings of Luminous House
Located in the Porto area, our architects were hired to modify a lease plan and a new housing project adapted to the urban context and the specific program of the client.

Luminous House architectural design
The architectural design of the luminous house is based on the raumplan concept. This design strategy adopted by the architects allowed several advantages:
– Adapted the building to the natural terrain
– Natural light in all spaces
– Reduced compartmentation of spaces by running fewer walls
– Increased the fluidity of spaces and the nobility of each zone
In this way, the house is organized according to the stairs path, generating spaces with intermediate heights, allowing larger spaces and suggesting to the user each space function in a subtle way. The garage receives only half of the excavation, the kitchen area, dining room and service bathroom is turned towards the front garden level and the living area is opened to the courtyard garden level. Going up a few more steps we found two bedrooms with a shared bathroom and a little more above the master bedroom with dressing room and private bathroom. Light reaches all spaces and social zones communicate vertically at the visual level. The daring process of spatial design recovers Adolf Loos’ “Raumplan” and adapts it to contemporaneity.
The exterior is a sculptural volume that worked in order to provide the light to reach each space, seeking  privacy and the best views to the outside.

The construction of Luminous House
The house has a lightweight reinforced concrete structure and thermal insulation on the floor, ceiling and walls. The roof is made of zinc and a yellow granite finishing on the exterior walls allows the connection with the outside pavement. An outside wooden deck allows the user to enjoy the garden in privacy.
The Luminous home has high energy efficiency, as it harnesses the rising air current for cooling the torch and takes advantage of passive solar radiation in the winter months.
In the interior, the natural woods and the marble generate a noble space and reinforce the luminosity of the dwelling and the minimalism of the forms.

The Luminous House
For a house to be bright, it is not enough to increase windows. For the light to flood the spaces in comfort it is absolutly necessary to know how to manage it:  balance its path directly or indirectly at the bottom, carrying it carefully to every nook and cranny. And this dynamic can only exist if properly coupled with a thermal strategy and aesthetic care with the views and privacy of those who inhabit. Only in this way can light play its part and become the protagonist of this space. Basically, let us never forget that light is precisely the precious element that allows the shapes of the house to reveal themselves to our eyes.