N°03 — Studio
Porto · Est. 2009
Sheet S-01
A small studio that builds slowly, in layers.
Stratum was founded in 2009 by three architects who had spent a decade on building sites. Today we are fourteen people in a former printing house in Porto — architects, two model makers and an interiors team — working on a handful of projects at a time, each from the first site visit to the last coat of lime.
N°04 — Philosophy
01
Ground first
Every project begins with a week on site and a stack of old maps. We design the relationship with the ground before we design the building.
02
Fewer, better materials
Most of our buildings use three or four materials, chosen for how they will look in thirty years. We would rather spend on stone than on cladding.
03
Time as a collaborator
We return to every building a year after handover. What we learn there — about light, wear and use — goes straight into the next drawing.
N°05 — Process in four phases
From the first site visit to the last coat of lime.
Phase 01
Weeks 1–6
Survey
Measured drawings, soil and light studies, conversations with neighbours. We leave with a single sheet of tracing paper that holds the whole site.
Phase 02
Weeks 6–14
Concept
One idea, tested in card models at 1:200, 1:50 and 1:20. Clients join the model table; nothing goes forward until it survives it.
Phase 03
Months 4–9
Detail
Junctions drawn at 1:5 and full-size mock-ups of the important ones. Materials are chosen with the people who will build them.
Phase 04
Months 10+
Build
Weekly site visits through construction, and a return visit one year after handover to see how the building has settled.
Years of practice
People in the studio
Buildings completed
Awards and citations
N°06 — People
The partners and leads
Photographed at the studio in Porto, in the same window light we draw by.
Inês Moura
Founding Partner
Housing & public buildings
Tomás Abreu
Partner
Materials & construction
Clara Teixeira
Associate
Urban design & landscape
Rui Valente
Project Architect
Cultural projects
Mateus Sá
Interiors Lead
Interiors & furniture
N°07 — Recognition