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Entre Portas café

An old house in the heart of Pinhel, Portugal, was transformed by depA Architects into a café and restaurant where old meets new through the use of wood, stone and concrete.

Porto-based collective depA Architects transformed an old Portuguese house into a café and restaurant that aims to become a reference venue in the city of Pinhel, north-east Portugal. Entre Portas is located in the heart of the historical center.

From the old and dark original house, the proposal kept and took advantage of the solid granite perimetral walls and the wooden roof structure that along with a selective demolition process created a new fluid and bright indoor space. From the exposed rock wall a new rocklike volume is built in concrete, organizing the space and the public/service circuits and areas.

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On the groundfloor the space for the toilets has been dug into the rock, enhancing the idea of a strong spacial and material link with the pre-existence. On the ground floor also the cafeteria/bar area is inhabited by the exposed rock on one side and by the new concrete atmosphere on the other. On the upper floor there is a dinning room and a double height lounge bar area in dialogue with the ground floor.

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Throughout the space, the solid rock and concrete textures and colours are balanced by the warm elements in wood – found in the existing roof structure and furniture – designed to create scenic moments as the cellars. The facade, facing the main city square, features a contemporary language which is coherent with the new interior intervention and with the repetitive composition of the openings, following the aesthetics of the city historical center.

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Entre Portas, Pinhel, Portugal
Program: café and restaurant
Architects: depA Architects – Luís Sobral, Carlos Azevedo, João Crisóstomo
Team: Luís Sobral, Carlos Azevedo, João Crisóstomo, Margarida Leitão, Miguel Santos, Sara Pontes, Francisco Crisóstomo, André Oliveira
Structural and hydraulic engineering: NCREP
Electrical engineering: CPX
Area: 280 sqm
Completion: 2017

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Entre Portas café

An old house in the heart of Pinhel, Portugal, was transformed by depA Architects into a café and restaurant where old meets new through the use of wood, stone and concrete.

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