Comércio do Porto Building

The Comércio do Porto building is located in the Historic Center of Porto, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
From the beginning, the project had two main intentions: to preserve the type of use of the building, mainly residential, and to guarantee that the renovated apartments allowed the families, who already lived in the building, to return to their homes.
Despite the fact that the building was still inhabited, it was in a bad state of conservation. This degradation is a result of a lack of maintenance; water infiltration from the roof and side walls and careless interventions in the building’s structure. Namely, over the backyard area, there were built new constructions with several floors, in an illegal and rudimentary way, covering the entire backyard. The result is an amalgam of unhealthy and very deteriorated spaces without natural light or ventilation.
Our renovation hopes to bring back the existing technical and functional characteristics of this historical building, integrating new functional demands, more comfort and better living conditions to it’s inhabitants.
We aim to preserve the original design of the skylight, windows, doors, entrance door and other woodwork such as handrails and stairs, as well as iron railings, tiles and other types of coatings, intervening in a way that allows for materials and other components to be reused or reproduced.