Concept

The challenge was to create a continuous and flexible commercial space, capable of integrating various products and functions, including dining and cafeteria areas, without losing visual and spatial coherence.
The architectural response focuses on fluidity and transparency, promoting visual relationships between floors and a strong connection between the interior and exterior.

The pre-existence

The original house, narrow and deep, had a yard on two levels and a central hall, characteristic elements of Porto's architecture, which ensured natural light and ventilation.
These elements became the conceptual basis of the intervention, reinterpreted as nuclei of light and relationship between the various spaces of the store.

The intervention

The project maximized the potential of the existing construction, restoring stairs, balustrades, doors, baseboards, and wooden floors.
The degraded walls of the hall were removed, increasing brightness and communication between floors.
A new glass floor highlights the old tar waterproofing and creates a point of transparency between levels.
The wooden structures of the original interior walls were left visible and protected by glass panels, integrating the construction memory into the new spatial discourse.

On the main facade, the tiles were replaced with artisanal replicas, preserving the original character of the building.
In the rear courtyard, a glazed and lightweight volume expands the usable area and ensures the complete reading of the old facade, now enhanced by transparency.

The upper yard was transformed into a terrace, surrounded by continuous landscaped flower beds and seats covered with glass tiles.
The fixed furniture and tables and chairs were specifically designed for the project, extending the architectural discourse through interior design.

Summary

The Avenida do Brasil Concept Store is a rehabilitation that merges memory and contemporaneity.
The project values the original building and translates it into a living cultural and commercial space, where architecture takes on the role of mediator between history, function, and experience.