I — MassWeigh what it means
A wall should weigh what it means. We size every section for the load it carries and the shadow it will throw, then we stop adding.
01
Index of works
Selected — 8 of 41. Hover or tap a row and the elevation draws itself.
-
- Frame
- Load-bearing walls, 450 mm
- Finish
- Board-formed, cedar 22 mm
- Aspect
- 8° east of south
- Light
- Two roof slots, 0.9 m
-
- Frame
- Monolithic shell, 300 mm
- Finish
- Oxide-tinted, hand-troweled
- Aspect
- Nave on the equinox axis
- Light
- One blade of sun at 17:40
-
- Frame
- Stepped terraces, post-tensioned
- Finish
- Fair-faced, silica-polished
- Aspect
- Open to the low winter sun
- Light
- Zenithal, 4 vaults
-
- Frame
- Cross-wall, 96 dwellings
- Finish
- Board-formed, ash boards
- Aspect
- Every unit sees the sunrise
- Light
- Punched grid, 1.2 m module
-
- Frame
- Nine thin-shell barrel vaults
- Finish
- Limewashed soffits
- Aspect
- Vault axis north–south
- Light
- Clerestory slots at each crown
-
- Frame
- Cantilevered deck, 14 m reach
- Finish
- Exposed aggregate, slate grey
- Aspect
- South over the old quarry
- Light
- Water-reflected, all day
-
- Frame
- Sawtooth shell, north-lit
- Finish
- Sand-cast, wind-scoured
- Aspect
- Glazing faces the pole star
- Light
- Indirect only, by design
-
- Frame
- Precast in the valley, flown up
- Finish
- Raw, frost-tested to −30°
- Aspect
- Corner window toward the peak
- Light
- Snow-bounced, blue at dawn
02
Sun-angle study
Drag the hour. The building never moves — only its shadow does.
Sun path · equinox · 47° N
- Altitude
- 0°
- Azimuth
- 0°
- Shadow ÷ height
- 0×
- Sky
- Day
03
Studio
A position, poured in one continuous take.
We do not decorate. We pour, we wait, and we let the light sign the wall.
II — TimeLet it cure
Concrete is a slow material. We cast in one continuous take, let the formwork print its grain, and accept the weather as a co-author.
III — LightCut, never add
Openings are cut, not added. Each slot, oculus and fissure is placed by sun-study, hour by hour, before a single bar of steel is bent.
41Built works
1998 — today
1998 — today
9Countries
on four continents
on four continents
0Apologies
on the record
on the record
04
Section A—A
Thin lines are what we see. Hatch is what we poured.
Cut plane A—A · hatch = cast-in-place concrete · dots = aggregateSun at 42° · noon light through one 3.5 m slot
05
Contact
We take four commissions a year. We answer every letter.
Tell us what
you would like
to pour.
Begin a conversation
Reply within three working days.
Studio
14 Rua da Cofragem4050-001 Porto
Portugal
Write
studio@monolith-atelier.example
Press: press@monolith-atelier.example
Hours
Monday to Friday
09:00 — 18:00
Site visits by appointment
Also in
Zürich · Osaka
Valparaíso (summers)