Coliving Matosinhos

Matosinhos, Portugal

Hospitality

813 m²

2022

Wood Co-Living is a shared housing project in Matosinhos developed in response to the growing difficulty of accessing housing within dense urban areas. The project adopts a co-living model as an organisational strategy, combining private rooms with shared spaces to reduce individual costs while maintaining spatial quality. Rather than propose a lifestyle narrative, the building is structured around collective use as a practical and architectural response to contemporary housing pressure.

The proposal responds to a widening gap between housing prices and income levels, a condition that has made access to housing increasingly difficult for young adults. By optimizing the use of space and concentrating shared functions, the project reduces individual costs while maintaining spatial quality.

Architecturally, the project is structured around a collective space. An interior patio acts as the social core of the building, organising circulation and shared life while bringing light and air into the interior. This space connects to a sequence of communal outdoor areas at ground level and on the rooftops, conceived as extensions of domestic life rather than as residual amenities.

Construction is based on a CLT (Cross-Laminated Timber) structure, with façades clad in timber panels. Over time, the material is intended to weather and change colour, allowing the building to integrate more closely into its urban surroundings while retaining the tactile presence of wood. This choice aligns construction logic, material expression, and environmental performance.

Green elements are integrated throughout the project. Planting in window openings, the central patio, and the green roofs contributes to air quality and helps regulate temperature throughout the year. Outdoor shared spaces are designed to support everyday use, from gardening and informal gatherings to moments of rest and collective activity, reinforcing the project’s ambition to frame shared living as a spatially grounded and environmentally conscious form of housing.