Aires Mateus, Atelier Cecílio de Sousa
Fine examples in Portugal
“Aires Mateus' four-storey new studio, which occupies an 18th-century building in Lisbon, Portugal, was named Atelier Cecílio de Sousa after the street it's located on, contains working and meeting spaces, two model-making areas and a multipurpose room.
Inside, the new self-designed studio of Aires Mateus architects, has as main characteritique is the ornate paintings and decorative stucco ceilings.” - pusblished in Metalocos Megazine
“The restored building for the offices of Aires Mateus is a historic building of two-storey that was originally built in 1779 and two additional storeys added 20 years later. Existing decorative features throughout the 18th-century building have been restored, however, the four levels were in varying need of renovation work.
Rooms up to the third floor while required superficial touches of restoration, theses touches were a specialised restoration work, like fresh coats of paint, tiling found in the room's skirtings, wainscoting, as well as the stucco and painted elements on the ceiling. Others works were the replacing rotting timber floorboards with solid planks of wood, while the damaged roof structure, on the third level, has been entirely rebuilt.” - published in Metalocos Megazine
Read more about the project: https://www.dezeen.com/2019/12/01/atelier-cecilio-de-sousa-aires-mateus-studio/
Project description by Aires Mateus
The project is a restoration. An operation that emphasizes the existent, recovering it and establishing new readings of reality.
Permanent elements are contemplated, as well as wall-paintings, tiles and the main spatial structures. From these elements, the change is implemented, adding value to them.
The new elements follow the history of the building with the autonomy of their time, integrated with a logic of the ‘whole’, established as the sum of all its construction eras.
… and Branca is honored to be included in this project with our very unique and timeless Aranha model