Casa FM by António Bessa Cruz Architects
Casa FM is a new house in Porto, Portugal, by António Bessa Cruz Architects. Set on a former car repair shop near Agramonte Cemetery, the project replaces an inadequate structure with a ground-up build that preserves an industrial attitude. Loft-scale rooms, courtyards, and robust materials steer the conversion toward intimate daily living while keeping the workshop’s memory in view. It was designed in 2025.
Morning spills through tall iron-framed glazing, washing the floor in long ribbons. Inside, concrete, brick, and dark joinery keep the former workshop’s grit alive while softening it for home.
This is a house in Porto by António Bessa Cruz Architects, replacing an unfit repair shop with a new build that keeps an industrial bearing. The throughline is material clarity: exposed concrete, handmade brick, and steel-framed openings shape volume, light, and rhythm.
Rework The Shell
From the street, a pale base meets a raw concrete crown, the arched door cut with black steel. The composition reads sturdy and urban, neither historicist nor aloof. Inside, cast concrete ceilings hold exposed ducts and tracks, keeping services legible and overhead. Floors run in polished concrete, tying rooms together with a quiet, durable sheen.
Light Through Courtyards
A chain of interior patios pulls daylight deep into the plan and buffers city noise. Ivy climbs garden walls, lending a soft counterpoint to the hard shell. Tall glazing opens to these yards, and full-height curtains temper glare and frame views. Air moves easily, so the large room stays calm even when the city hums beyond.
Kitchen As Workshop
The kitchen concentrates the industrial palette in one precise assembly. Black, paneled cabinetry wraps the wall, with warm glass fronts and a rail-mounted ladder for the upper run. A metal-framed island sits forward like equipment, paired with a long timber dining table and cane chairs. Light fittings hang as a loose constellation, giving the large room a measured glow.
Concrete Stair, Soft Light
A sweeping concrete stair rises against white-painted brick, its soffit curving like a cast ribbon. Small apertures dapple the wall, so steps catch shifting light through the day. Hand to rail, the finish feels dry and sure. At the landing, a corridor folds toward quiet rooms beyond.
Rooms With Texture
The principal bedroom rests on a low timber plinth, edged by dark joinery and louvered screens. Materials do the talking, not decoration. In the bath, a clawfoot tub, subway tile wainscot, and a steel-and-glass shower enclosure set a crisp, workshop-meets-domestic tone. Brass fittings add warmth without gloss.
By day, the courtyards cast cool shade; by night, the dark kitchen reads like a stage under soft pendants. Concrete holds quiet, brick carries light, and steel keeps time. The house honors the site’s industrious past while choosing materials that will wear in, not out.
Photography courtesy of António Bessa Cruz Architects
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