Portuguese architecture has two different faces. There is a great contrast between the majority of the buildings, which have nothing special to offer from an architectural point of view, and a select number of projects which are of an exceptional level and have made Portuguese architecture famous all over the world.
Among the Portuguese architects, Alvaro Siza and Eduardo Souto de Moura are undoubtedly the leading lights, but the quality of Portuguese architecture is also based upon a broader group of architectural designers. One of the firms which contribute to the quality of present-day architecture in Portugal is the architectural firm of Contaminar.
Although Contaminar is not yet all that well-known internationally, it creates rather striking architecture very much in line with what can already be referred to as the Portuguese tradition: a sensitive type of modernism which is very much in tune with its context.
Bureau Contaminar provides a strikingly high level of quality in everything that it designs and builds, undoubtedly making it an exception to the national trend.
Casa de Leiria - one of the reference projects for this firm - is one of the projects that provide an example of the integration between the abstract concept and the building object itself.
As the architect was given sufficient freedom by the client, it was possible to transform a simple project - a one-family house on the edge of Leiria into something special. A space located between the two bottom floors is used to provide access to the living room, which has a direct connection to the garden on the ground floor and with the area used for daily activities on the first floor, with the “room for daily use” and the kitchen, both of which are linked to the garden via the large windows. As a result, the separation between indoors and outdoors becomes somewhat vague.
On the topmost, most intimate and separate floor, the bedrooms can be found. These rooms are located next to each other and “project over” the main wall of the building, thereby also serving to roof over the entrance.
Scenarios
For the movable elements of the outside doors and windows, it was decided to use two different aluminium framing systems from Reynaers which are suitable for the specific application and requirements concerned. In this case, a choice was made for type CP 96 sliding elements and overhead sliding elements, which provide an excellent balance between durability, quality and price. For other doors and windows, EcoSystem components were used which combine good design with high quality. In addition, these components contribute to energy efficiency, an aspect which is subjected to high standards within the framework of present legislation and user standards.
According to the architects, “each window creates a different framework. Via the windows, scenarios are created which cannot be reproduced at other places in the house.” In addition to their generally recognised excellent technical qualities, this is undoubtedly one of the strongest aspects of the aluminium profile supplied by Reynaers.