Casa do Conto is a boutique hotel housed in a charming building in the up-and-coming Cedofeita district of Porto, Portugal’s second-largest city after Lisbon.
The name “Casa do Conto” means “the house of stories”. The hotel’s interior is the outcome of a renovation project that transformed a 19th-century urban building into a welcoming, atmospheric space full of cultural imagery.
Casa do Conto embodies a distinctive life story, one that has a great deal in common with the story of the city itself. It highlights the austere, vertical local architecture of the 19th century and the marks left by the time that passed between its construction and its renovation. It combines the granite façade with new concrete in the stairs and ceilings, recalling a kind of “mineral architecture” brought back to life.
A devastating fire in 2009 interrupted the reconstruction of Casa do Conto. Even so, the determination of those involved was strong enough to overcome the setback, and today the hotel, fully renovated, offers its exclusive hospitality services.
The hotel’s concept is a distinctive one: besides accommodation, it makes its spaces available for the creation and exhibition of works of art. To that end, it regularly runs a programme of cultural events involving a variety of artists, designers, curators and institutions.
The renovation strategy focused on preserving the building as a whole and reviving its original architectural value. The scheme included interventions in the existing architecture. The central entrance, with vertical access to every floor, was retained, while at the heart of the building a skylight was designed that captures daylight and makes it possible to see the sky.
The communal areas, such as the reception, the lounge, the library and the restaurant, are located on the ground and first floors, while the rooms occupy the remaining floors.
Engraved lettering on the ceilings, spread across the 6 rooms, tells – like stories – of the changes the building has undergone over time. The texts were written by different authors, Filipa Leal, Alvaro Domingues, Jorge Figueira, André Tavares, Nuno Grande and Pedro Bandeira, all of whom have a connection with the city and its architecture.
The six stories were “distributed” among the rooms by the architecture firm Pedra Líquida (Liquid Stone), which took on the renovation project, and were rendered graphically by the creative designers of R2 Design. This solution, which shapes the distinct personality of each space, has already won the 2011 SEGD Design Award and the Golden Award of the European Design Awards in the “Signs & Displays” category.
Every room is different, but all are furnished with vintage furniture and other interesting design accessories, maintaining a simple, distinctive character throughout.
Text: Natasa Lianopoulou
