Location: Vale de Cambra, Portugal.

Architect: Summary Architects.

On order to construct homes and multi-service areas in a common roadside area in Vale de Cambra, Portugal, this proposal was conceived. We chose to employ the Gomos System since the client demanded that the building be quick and economical.

The plan was straightforward: the separate habitational units were placed on top of a ground floor level for the multi-services programme that was connected to the public area. We constructed separate access points for each function and positioned them in various levels, taking advantage of the slope of the ground naturally, due to the differences between the two programmes.

Prefabricated slabs and structural plates make up the ground floor around the entire façade. The multi-service space was designed with flexibility in mind, taking into account the building’s location in a roadside area where everything changes too quickly: the internal compartmentalization is done with removable panels with inner rails for the distribution of water and electrical systems. This allows for future tweaks and adaptations, such as the ability to add or remove storage spaces or convert the entire level into an open area. As a result, the users will personalise this place in accordance with the programme at hand.

The Gomos System was used to construct the entire first floor. We were able to separate the housing units despite the maximum legally allowed area being relatively little. We achieved with this split the key benefits of single homes: clearly differentiated entrances and a complete acoustic barrier between the different apartments. The building was designed and licenced as a communal housing project.

CLIENT: private comission
YEAR: 2019
STATUS: built
DIMENSION: 940sqm
TYPE: mixed use
LOCATION: Vale de Cambra, Portugal
PROJECT LEADER: Samuel Gonçalves
PROJECT TEAM: Inês Vieira Rodrigues (project manager), Gonçalo Vaz de Carvalho, Maria João Freitas

This project is designed with the GOMOS Building System.