Architecture studio Bureau des Me?sarchitecture has completed an apartment block in Leiria, Portugal, wrapped in concrete and gold aluminium shutters.
Situated on a corner site where the old and new neighbourhoods of Leiria meet, the block of five apartments is connected to an existing, yellow-painted 20th century house, which was renovated and converted into two additional apartments as part of the project.
Lisbon and Paris-based Bureau des Me?sarchitecture looked to balance these two distinct conditions, drawing on the yellow-painted exterior of the existing building to inform a curved facade of pale concrete with golden aluminium.
Bureau des Me?sarchitecture has completed an apartment block in Leiria
"The site is at the articulation of two neighbourhoods with different urban fabric ? the old part of the city with one to two storeys buildings and a new area, under development, with 4 storeys or more buildings," the studio's founder Didier Fiúza Faustino told Dezeen. "There were two main ideas for the project: designing a housing building with a defensive facade and a soft interior, designing a facade that can be totally closed or totally open," he added.
"The concept can be resumed in two words: protect and care."
The facade features shutters made from exposed concrete and gold aluminium
The housing block sits atop a gold-panelled base leading to a garage dug into the gently sloping site, with a staircase on the southern street leading up to...