Bonfim331

Located on one of Porto’s most charismatic arteries, the Bonfim331 project is an exercise in surgical rehabilitation, transforming a derelict granite ruin into a vibrant student residency that feels more like a home than a dormitory. The intervention navigates the classic challenge of the Porto urban fabric: the deep, narrow plot. To resolve the inherent lack of illumination in such a constrained footprint, the design is organized around a new vertical light shaft. This central void acts as the building’s lungs, drawing natural light and ventilation deep into the core, serving the ten internal bedrooms and anchoring a generous double-height social area that fosters community.

Externally, the project establishes a dialogue between weight and weightlessness. The existing façade, a beautiful but rundown granite structure, was preserved as the heavy, grounding base. Crowning this historic stone is a new third floor, conceived as an ethereal, floating volume detached from the logic of the past. Clad in Green Zinc, this addition features a custom façade of half-cylinders, fabricated using CNC molds and applied on-site. This rhythmic, corrugated texture reinterprets the ornamental depth of traditional architecture through a contemporary industrial process, creating a simple solid object that hints at the memory of the street while asserting a new form.

The result is a building that functions like a Rubik’s Cube: complex in its technical resolution and spatial fitting, but effortless and cohesive to the eye. By gutting the interior and crowning it with this distinct zinc volume, the studio moved away from the cold, stripped-back aesthetic often found in student accommodations. Instead, Bonfim331 offers a “cozy but effective” environment—a warm, tactile, and user-friendly space where the complexity of the architecture serves the simple purpose of living well.