Leopold Banchini Architects and Daniel Zamarbide breathed new life into a building left abandoned in Lisbon after the financial crisis that hit Portugal ten years ago. Inspired by the modernist work of Irving Gill, the architects designed Dodged House around a cantilevered stepped slab of concrete, creating a fascinating layout that only reveals itself from the inside. The original exterior facades remain intact, blending in with the rest of the urban streetscape.

The architects added a vertical series of slender arc windows and one large arched opening to the previously bleak façade facing the courtyard. The arch doubles as a glass door, rotating open on its central axis. Inside, the stepped concrete slab leaves a full height void that faces toward the courtyard, invoking contemplation of the diversity of both interior and exterior spaces, and affording privacy to the rooms hidden beyond the transparent glass arch.

Low-cost construction techniques and materials ensured the architects could maximize living potential within the rather small space; the ground floor spanning 40sqm, and the total structure being 95sqm. Rough cement blocks clad the interior facades, with simple metal joinery and locally sourced tiles and stone used for built-in furniture, floors, and walls.

A spiral staircase twists across the four superposed floors, containing three bedrooms/ living areas with glass facades facing the central void, drawing ample daylight. All structural materials bar the raw concrete slabs are painted white, enhancing an illusion of vast space within the building’s tall, skinny frame.

Exposed plumbing and infrastructure add to the mechanical essence of Dodged House, the modern structure left minimal and transparent amongst jumbled historical surrounds. The project is an overall reflection of Lisbon’s fast-changing city centre.

[Images courtesy of Leopold Banchini Architects & Daniel Zamarbide/ BUREAU. Photography © Dylan Perrenoud.]