Modern Villa by Portuguese Architect Maria Fradinho of FRARI Atelier

Discover an architecture project where the pool enters the house where fun and connectivity to the outside is part of the living experience.

This modern villa, which is located in the vicinity of the city of Aveiro, is part of a residential area with a low occupancy rate. The proposed building is an inhomogeneous piece made up of different volumes that form a single body. The common rooms are organized on the ground floor with an entrance hall, a kitchen with a dining area, a living room, and a toilet as well as the technical areas including a double garage, machine room, and laundry room. The private rooms are organized on the first floor with two bedrooms served by a common hallway with a closet, work area, and a bathroom as well as a suite with its own wardrobe and bathroom. Formally, the architectural piece is delimited by the lines of the allotment garden plan into which it is inserted and delimits its outer boundaries. The volume resulting from these alignments is then developed through a diagonal cut. This enables a vertical division of the volume with facades of different widths in order to ensure the desired programmatic distribution. The division into floors and the subsequent elimination of the upper western volume results in a three-volume form through successive sections to the initial volume. Each volume is treated as a “box” with uniform sizes. The volumes enable different experiences inside and different relationships to the outside, which everyone can use for orientation. This guarantees the variety of the desired (indoor/outdoor experiences at the expense of the small size of the property. One of the volumes on the ground floor expands towards the street and ensures a frontal alignment with the rest of the apartments. This also allows the same volume to be withdrawn on the rear facade so that the pool approaches the facade of the building and thus ensures a direct relationship between them. At this point, it is possible to jump from the house directly in the pool or simply enjoy the lighting effects that the reflection of the water gives on the upper console. The play of colors between white and black makes it possible to define the exception to this volume, which, in contrast to the other two, is dark gray. Regarding the exterior design, the house is surrounded by green landscaped spaces, with the exception of a ceramic terrace in the back yard, which allows the transition from the use of the dining room to the outside. This area is protected by a pergola, which guarantees the right shade for this space. The pergola is drawn in continuation of the adjoining volume as if it were fragmented until it became minimal, stylized parts that form the structural portal.

Photographer Ivo Tavares just sent over a few shots of the house. You can find more of his photographic work on his website or Instagram account. Do not hesitate to check out other architectural projects by Maria Fradinho of FRARI atelier here.