Portuguese architect Nelson Resende was asked to design an indoor swimming pool for a house south of Porto with some critical aesthetic and functional issues; here’s how Resende solved the home’s problems by adding a pool.
If a house is not well built and does not have a good aesthetic and functional relationship with its surroundings, it might just need a pool. Portuguese architect Nelson Resende was asked to design an indoor pool for such a house in Ovar, south of Porto.
“The lot, with the house and another little building on it, had been planned without any real qualitative criterion, and the outdoor connection between the two volumes was really bad,” says Resende. “The idea of building a swimming pool offered me an opportunity to think of this space as an element that could improve the spatial connection between the buildings.”
The third building on the lot therefore established continuity with the two existing buildings to improve the aesthetic quality of the structure and at the same time create a central patio connecting all three buildings.
The new swimming pool was built on a very low budget, a factor which of course had an impact on the details of the construction and its external appearance, which is simple and spartan, though without compromising on quality.
Francesco Cibati
Year: 2015
Location: Ovar, Aveiro, Portugal
Surface area: 102 m2
Design: Nelson Resende Arquitecto
Photos: Ivo Tavares Studio
