(Description by the architects)

The São Bento Residences project is located on a remarkable corner of the historic center of Porto, next to São Bento Station, and a few meters from the city’s main cathedral and Avenida dos Aliados.
The project aims to establish continuity between all the historical layers, but also a balance relationship between the facade of the old station and the escarpment rock massif.
The presented solution proposes a union between the “monumental” and “residential” scales, and the materialities of “natural” and “artificial”. A monolithic block, built in exposed concrete, hammered “in situ”, conforms, not only to the shape of the escarpment, but also to the 18th century building, whose granite fragments were preserved.
To respond to the program requested by the client – sixteen apartments, between T0 and T1 types – the block has two purposes: part absorbs and complements, by affinity, the stone facade of Rua do Loureiro; the other inaugurates a new facade on Avenida D. Afonso Henriques. The difference between the two volumes marks the entrance, and the vertical access to the apartments.
The rhythmic composition of the facade on Avenida D. Afonso Henriques reinvents the vertical proportions of traditional Porto architecture.
The project features brass details, present in the delicate composition of its new balconies and window frames on the ground floor, contrasting with the concrete facade.
Integrating the buildings around it and the escarpment, and the affirmation of contemporaneity, the São Bento Residences project seeks to establish a bridge between the 18th century and the 21st century.

Architecture by Pedra Líquida

Interior design by Marta´s

Development by Grupo Nelson Quintas