This minimalist house located in Matosinhos, a coastal town just outside Porto, has been designed by architecture studio NoArq. The clients commissioned lead architect José Carlos Nunes de Oliveira and his team to build a 160m² house with a budget of only €100k. A very limited and challenging budget for a concrete grand design.

With this limitation in mind, an effort was taken to make sure everything was kept as simple and linear as possible. The staircase is situated towards the centre of the home and serves as a partition between the adjacent programmes. Large glass windows provide abundant natural light to the interior and are framed in wood, which contrast superbly with the surrounding concrete.

We prefer to invest in the energy efficiency of the building instead of an expense in finishing materials. I imagine the house as a mini-bunker. Natural concrete walls inside and in the outside a thermal insulation component system, the architect explains.

I love this project. It's a simple and elegant family home built with a very modest budget, and proves that with mindful, minimalist design, one can own something beautiful, efficient and functional. This is exemplary architecture.