This is a current house i'm building in the north of Portugal, Matosinhos here are a couple of renders: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Building pics. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
great work, it's coming right along for you! what are those brown clay looking blocks? i'm not familiar with that material
Thanks, actualy the "brown blocks" are suposed to be a granit wall, the designer that made the renderings simply got it wrong!!! This is how it will be in reality: Image Unavailable, Please Login
This is the actual house where you can see the granit walls....it´s almost ready, just missing the gardens and some minor details, it´s aldo in the North, near Braga: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
okay, i understand ....looking at it, i wasn't sure if it was a some other type of wall finishing brick?
Thanks, i think using "natural" materials like stone walls, wood, makes the house more apealing, it gives a sense of "confort", especially with a modern design. I have no problem using materials like steel or raw concrete but the house will look definetly "colder" and it takes a special personality to enjoy such a house. I'll try to post some interior pics from the second house on monday
Some interior Pics Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
^ just a couple of quibbles. the picture in the masterbath is just stupid. and the stainless steel fireplace vent pipe looks very unfinished as if architect did not know how to incorporate it elegantly. ed
This one is a reconstruction and ampliation, it´s up North, near Viana do castelo: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Gorgeous home, from the first few plans, it seemed as though this could even be built with shipping containers. The interior is stunning!!
Thanks, glad you liked it....i normaly get a lot of liberty from clients to draw their houses, but somethimes there are some fixed ideas or impositions that limit a litle our work. I try to be as flexible as possible, because in the end, the house is going to be used by the client, not me, so the most important thing is that he will be happy, and so far this as been the case. However, if i don´t like the way they want things done, i try to persuade them going in a diferent direction, and usualy we reach an agreement where we both get happy. Although it´s good to have "carte blache" to work, i belive the input of the client is also very important in order to design and build a house.
Very nice design in classic modern tradition; with full concrete structure it will be there for a long time. Not so sold on the second house - I prefer the pure route be it modern or traditional.
I appreciate the way the first home has been "warmed". Picture in bath looks to be influenced by Inca. Do you recall if there was a story behind that choice?
In reference to the first home you pictured, near Braga, what was your projected cost per square meter?
You guys do stone different than we do. In Texas, a good stone wall would have a lot more uniformity of stone size. I'm not saying we're better, just different. Dale
Good point. The impression you want to create with a stone wall is strength. (Note, reality is different than impressions. I'm not implying that this wall is unsound.) So if you are going to vary the size, I would start with the bigger ones on the bottom and then work up. But frankly, stonework is getting to be a lost art. Our best ones are Mexicans who have been doing this for a long time. This also explains why production builders have switched to cultured stone. Dale
On a closer look I can see in the walls built with many small stones that they're likely set dry or into a mortar backing to give the impression of a dry set. They didn't give me a first impression of unsoundness, no doubt the large stone quoins and other large stone used reinforce that. An interesting look but $$$ labor to set them. The walls faced with larger stones are really well done and look quite old. The variety of lengths interset with larger stones and quoins at the corners are also time consuming to do. Regular cut of natural stone and manmade stone used on spec houses here are indeed of financial necessity; unfortunately tends toward boring in appearance.
