The Monsignor Airosa House is part of a group of three period houses in Braga, with two floors and two facades, the main one facing Monsenhor Airosa Street and a backyard with carriage access.
Originally, the house was organized into two floors interconnected by a central staircase, which structured and clearly defined the house’s layout. Taking the original distribution as a starting point, the team of architects considered it essential to restore to the house what had, over the course of various transformations and adaptations, become less clear.
The approach to the project took into account the work of rehabilitation, preservation, and reorganization of the space according to the original base typology. The main façade was restored, while the rear façade was clarified, removing the volumes that had been added over time and once again asserting itself as a simple façade, with soft lines and neutral colours, between the grey of the rendered surface and the white of the metalwork and window frames.
To explore this concept, the Urban Atelier collection by Aleluia Cerâmicas was chosen, in the colours Nordic and White, allowing the clarity of the rear façade to stand out in contrast with the traditional main façade.
Inside, the central staircase emerges as a catalytic element, taking on a generous scale as a space‑generating feature which, through the central skylight, shapes the atmosphere of the entire house with the natural light that enters from outside and is brought into the heart of the dwelling.
Project: Casa Monsenhor Airosa
Team: João Nuno Macedo, Ricardo Silva, Marta Machado
Photography: José Campos
