Camarim Arquitectos is a firm from Lisbon, Portugal. The firm was founded in 2007 with “the ambition of creating spatial solutions that make life easier and rewarding.” They focus on creating flexible, energy-efficient buildings in spaces that produce an experience that triggers visual, acoustic, aromatic and tactile senses.
Between 2007 and 2013 the firm worked on a project titled Casa no Príncipe Real in Lisbon, Portugal. The building is a 5-storey urban family dwelling which utilizes a tile facade in an abstract pattern. The architects state of the project:
The exiguity of the plot has led us to a scheme where each floor has a different function and layout and all floors connect through a vertical atrium of variable geometry, providing a naturally-lit cadenced, progressive route. In addition to its spatial qualities, the atrium works as a thermal chimney for passive cooling during spring and summer and allows air renewal throughout the year.
The building’s skin is a contemporary approach to the tiles covering the former building, which was in advanced state of decay. We defined a set of abstract rules to transform the original tile’s motif in an abstract pattern, embodied in 3 distinct media: a flat-tile base, a bas-relief-tile body and a perforated-steel, light-permeable, entablature.
Hard as it would be to plan a typical construction site in such a small plot, we opted for a light steel construction system – LSF – which has an excellent thermal and acoustic performance. It is the first building in Lisbon made with this system.
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Casa no Príncipe Real by Camarim Arquitectos. Photographs by Nelson Garrido.
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