For design enthusiasts, the Rotunda de Boavista is a landmark destination. Fronting the circular park, the asymmetrical polyhedron form of the OMA-designed Casa de Música announces one of the most distinctive buildings of the early 21st century, described by New York Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff in 2005 as the project to cement the OMA founder’s status as “one of the world’s great designers as well as the profession’s mightiest thinker.” And while the concert hall remains an architectural icon, visitors to the neighbourhood can also enjoy a worthwhile detour to a very different work of architecture; the Boavista 339 apartment complex around the corner.

Designed by local practice Paolo Merlini Architects, the newly completed eight-storey residential building introduces 11 apartments to an exceptionally compact urban site. With a footprint of just 88-square-metres, the project presents an elegant contemporary update to the local 20th century vernacular of tall yet slender residential buildings constructed on individual lots, avoiding the complexities of site assembly. Indeed, Boavista 339 abuts an older residential mid-rise of almost identical scale, though the new building is immediately distinguished by its expressive and eye-catching façade.

From the street, the interplay of raw board-formed concrete and a staggered array of varying arches animates a street frontage of only 5.5 metres. Accented by minimalist vertical slats and bursts of privacy-enhancing greenery along its narrow balconies, the kinetic façade draws the eye across the body of the building, expressing the presence of individual homes within.

Inside, the “mini mid-rise” form organizes a variety of studio and one-bedroom layouts — including larger two-storey suites on the upper levels — around a spatially efficient central elevator and exit stair. To maximize natural light to each of the homes, the shared circulation spaces are clustered at the centre of the building. Alongside the narrow yet distinctively arched residential entrance, a small commercial space (used as an office) faces the street.

Across a built area of just 649 square metres, the building’s 11 homes are surprisingly airy, breathable and expansive. Accented by arched forms across the windows and doorways, simple, crisp white walls and finishes are paired with light wood hues across the floors, cabinetry, and millwork. On the upper levels, meanwhile, spiral stairs introduce a sinuous — yet characteristically efficient — element to the simple homes. For suites facing the back frontage, the irregularly shaped lot narrows to just 2 metres, creating awkwardly angular spaces that are thoughtfully resolved as storage spaces and bathrooms.

While Boavista 339 is a far cry from the seminal 2000s starchitecture around the corner, its thoughtful adaptation of local housing vernacular makes for an engaging — and timely — project. And just as the Casa de Música epitomized the Bilbao Effect era’s fascination with major cultural architecture, Merlini’s modest project is a case study for efficient architecture in the 21st-century housing crisis. In part made possible by looser European regulations for egress and elevator size, Boavista 339 packs a surprising amount of architecture into a small urban package.

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