SM House is a minimalist residence located in Porto, Portugal, designed by MGO. The three-story house was originally built in the 1930s by the owner’s great-grandfather. The architectural intervention was a result of the house’s presented condition combined with its architectural quality. Therefore, the first two floors were restored due to their good state of preservation resulting in the keeping of the house’s identity; while the basement was renewed, currently assuming a contemporary aesthetics and solving the sequence of interconnected spaces in different levels.
The poor state of conservation of the basement floor, whose poor lighting did not allow the comfort of its use, was completely reformulated through an enlargement of concrete that responded to the new programmatic requirements sought by the clients: the garage; the laundry; and the sewing room. The house establishes a dialogue between the existing and the contemporary, represented by a formal gesture: the story lands on the new concrete.
Photography by Mariana Lopes