Architecture studio Summary built VDC, a modular housing scheme in Portugal's Vale de Cambria, out of prefabricated concrete elements.
Set on a sloping site, six independent cabin-style homes and a communal terrace sit atop a mixed-use building.
Six houses share a communal terrace
Summary created VDC after presenting a prototype at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2016.
Prefabricated concrete modules were used to speed up construction and keep costs low, while a flexible design should allow the complex to be extended or changed in the future.
A mixed-use building sits underneath
The ground floor, in particular, is supposed to be as flexible as possible. Concrete slabs make up its perimeter walls with no structural dividing walls.
"It's possible to add or remove compartments or let the whole floor function as a big open space," said Summart. "Users may adapt the space according to their needs." Prefabricated concrete elements kept costs low
The first-floor homes, each measuring 45 square metres, were built according to Summary's modular housing method called the Gomos System.
Inspired by the prefabricated modules used to install sewers, the units are made of precast concrete sections that can be joined together to create a continuous shell of any size.
"All its components are fully prepared in the factory and quickly assembled in situ, performing at once as structure, insulation and cladding elements," explained the studio.
Concrete modules form...