Wooden trusses support new mezzanines inside remodelled stone building by Corpo Atelier
Architecture studio Corpo Atelier has restructured an old stone outbuilding in a rural area of northern Portugal, adding a bulky wooden framework behind its thick masonry walls (+ slideshow).
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Corpo Atelier carried out the refurbishment on a dilapidated building in Sernancelhe, a municipality in northern Portugal, to create a family home. The project was named Wood Structure Inside Stone Walls.
![Wood Structure Inside Stone Walls by Corpo Atelier](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/01/Wood-Structure-Inside-Stone-Walls-by-Corpo-Atelier_dezeen_468_4.jpg)
All that remained of the original building were four thick stone walls. The architects added a new wooden roof structure and a series of interior partitions, framed by chunky timber columns and beams.
![Wood Structure Inside Stone Walls by Corpo Atelier](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/01/Wood-Structure-Inside-Stone-Walls-by-Corpo-Atelier_dezeen_468_22.jpg)
They also increased the height of the upper storey by adding stone blocks to the existing walls, then repointed the whole building to harmonise the two different ages of masonry.
![Wood Structure Inside Stone Walls by Corpo Atelier](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/01/Wood-Structure-Inside-Stone-Walls-by-Corpo-Atelier_dezeen_468_18.jpg)
Wooden beams and trusses have been left exposed on the underside of the roof. They connect with a system of new floor beams and columns that subdivide the interior, create three mezzanine levels and frame a staircase with a cupboard beneath its treads.
![Wood Structure Inside Stone Walls by Corpo Atelier](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/01/Wood-Structure-Inside-Stone-Walls-by-Corpo-Atelier_dezeen_468_11.jpg)
"Inside, the wood structure that supports [the roof] is expanded vertically, trespassing the house in all its dimension, both dividing and 'hierarchising' the space," said the architects.
![Wood Structure Inside Stone Walls by Corpo Atelier](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/01/Wood-Structure-Inside-Stone-Walls-by-Corpo-Atelier_dezeen_468_8.jpg)
"The habitable areas then occupy the interstices of this clearly defined geometry of wood pillars and beams," they added.
![Wood Structure Inside Stone Walls by Corpo Atelier](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/01/Wood-Structure-Inside-Stone-Walls-by-Corpo-Atelier_dezeen_468_10.jpg)
The timber staircase sits in the centre of the plan. It leads up to a landing with a white railing that overlooks the open-plan living space on the ground floor. Doorways to the right and left lead off this platform into two double bedrooms.
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The steps continue up from the landing to the family bathroom, where the roof beams fan out across the glossy white sloping ceiling.
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Externally, the new roof is covered in terracotta tiles, as is a porch that provides the house's entrance. Irregularly shaped pieces of stone were also added around the perimeter, creating a patio between the building and the surrounding garden.
![Wood Structure Inside Stone Walls by Corpo Atelier](https://static.dezeen.com/uploads/2015/01/Wood-Structure-Inside-Stone-Walls-by-Corpo-Atelier_dezeen_468_16.jpg)
Photography is by Ricardo Oliveira Alves.
Project credits:
Architecture: Corpo Atelier
Design team: Filipe Paixão
Construction: Window to the Future and Opus Nobel Energia
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