S1 Two-family house | Pedroso - Martina Architecture

S1 Two-family house | Pedroso

Two-family house

Client: Private

Area: 455.25 m2

Team: to be defined

Construction: to be defined

Contractualization: 2024

[In licensing]

In the encounter between brothers, a proposal for balance is born.
The two-family house in Pedroso is organized on a longitudinal plot, with a clear gesture: two symmetrical houses, thought of as complementary halves of a whole. The sketch shows this intention – a rational occupation of the plot, where repetition is the order.

Balance between limit and identity

Two houses, a symmetry with freedom

The plot, with its extremely small width, imposed a particular design approach.
The constraints of the Gaia City Council prevented the development of the program along the façade, orienting the proposal towards a design in depth.
This limitation gave rise to a solution of longitudinal symmetry in the two-family house: two houses that extend into the plot, with accesses, routes and outdoor spaces organized in a parallel but autonomous way.

Despite the structural sharing and common language, each unit asserts its functional independence – no overlapping routes, no visual invasions, no unnecessary intersections. It’s a basic symmetry, but never one of literal repetition.

Light, limits and outdoor living

Patios, privacy and permanence

Each house is organized around two courtyards.

Their layout, oriented in opposite directions, ensures privacy between the units and allows each room to open up to the outside without interference.

Courtyards are not just transitional spaces – they are habitable extensions of the interior areas, guaranteeing natural light, ventilation and a controlled scale.

The east-west orientation allows for a constant relationship with the variation in light throughout the day.

In the center, between the two houses, is the swimming pool.
A shared but sheltered element, it marks the separation between volumes and introduces a pause point.

The exterior space is continuous, but fragmented by elevations, walls and vegetation, allowing for different uses without compromising the unity of the whole.

Light, limits and outdoor living

Patios, privacy and permanence

Each house is organized around two courtyards.

Their layout, oriented in opposite directions, ensures privacy between the units and allows each room to open up to the outside without interference.

Courtyards are not just transitional spaces – they are habitable extensions of the interior areas, guaranteeing natural light, ventilation and a controlled scale.

The east-west orientation allows for a constant relationship with the variation in light throughout the day.

In the center, between the two houses, is the swimming pool.
A shared but sheltered element, it marks the separation between volumes and introduces a pause point.

The exterior space is continuous, but fragmented by elevations, walls and vegetation, allowing for different uses without compromising the unity of the whole.

Precision in the line, lightness in the experience

An architecture contained by the plot

The two-family house in Pedroso is, above all, an exercise in balance.
Between the collective and the private, between symmetry and autonomy, between presence and integration.
On a narrow plot, the project finds space for two ways of living – with patios that ensure privacy, terraces that open up to the horizon and a palette of materials that respects the place.

Rather than duplicating a solution, this is a project that mirrors intentions without repeating formulas. And in this gesture of restraint and rigor, it builds an architectural response that is serene, long-lasting – and deeply livable.