PENINSULA HOUSE

Peninsula House, a weekend home in a coastal city, explores an intriguing relationship between the privacy and domesticity of its residential program and natural setting. Located at the edge of a gorgeous peninsula on the São Paulo coast, the setting is both widely open to the landscape while being entirely exclusive to the house. There are very few obstacles between the interior, private spaces of the house and the outdoors. This condition allowed the house to offer a level of openness of domestic spaces that a regular, urban one would not be able to.

The house is composed of three stacked abstract volumes which have been delicately positioned on a steep slope overlooking the Atlantic Ocean for minimum topographic impact. It is divided in three parts: the rectangular base and the triangular superior volume, which have more private areas; and the transparent space in-between them where the common areas are located. The suspended triangular volume creates shaded balconies protected from direct sunlight, while the more enclosed and monolithic base provides more intimate spaces. The tension between the two creates negative transparent spaces that visually connect with the landscape.

The interior design was thought to be as pure and simple as the forms of architecture. The team selected furniture by famous Brazilian designers, mostly produced in wood, to compose the surroundings next to the furniture designed especially for the house. Few materials were used to create a quiet and cozy atmosphere, among them, Brazilian freijó wood, which is one of the most prominent materials used in linings, panels and joinery.

The main access is through the ground floor of the basement, where the home theater and the four guest suites are located. It is the most intimate area of ​​the residence. The first floor is the space of social and leisure use, with living room, a small kitchen, balcony and swimming pool. The interior space is fluidly integrated into the exterior, thanks to glass frames and the continuity of the stone used on the floor. The first floor was designed in such a way that it could establish itself as an emptiness between the basement and the triangular volume of the second floor, a large balcony that serves as a meeting point for the whole family.

The second floor has a triangular plant due to the study of insolation. The diagonal was drawn in a north-south direction, so that the facade faces east. At this level are located the master suite and the son’s suite. In addition, these environments are privileged with the best view of the sea. Copper was chosen for the facade because it is a material that will react well to the passage of time. This suspended volume has one of the edges in a large cantilever of nine meters towards the sea, reminding of a large boat. The project demonstrates a unique method to balance the abstract morphological requirements of the spatial concept of the house with the requirements of innovative structural and skin frameworks.

CM HOUSE

Designed as a leisure retreat in a residential condominium in Paraty, Rio de Janeiro, CM House was created taking into account the land’s visuals and integration with the landscaping.

Set back from the street, the front portion gives way to a dense garden. Rectangular plates in White Siena granite juxtaposed irregularly on the lawn create a sinuous design that leads residents inside. On the sides, different species of philodendrons and medium-sized trees make up the space designed in partnership with Isabel Duprat.

Seeking to ensure privacy for residents, the façade of the house receives an opaque lower gable covered in Moledo stone. Above it, the upper volume, in a steel structure with an enveloped tray in corten steel, accommodates a linear flowerbed made up of medium-sized plant species, which protects the interior. The access to the residence is through pivoting doors with greenish copper sheets, resulting from the chemical oxidation process of the material.

With more than a thousand square meters divided into two floors, the project was designed as a veranda-house, and despite the large area, the implementation with an F design, integrated into the garden rich in textures – natural and materials – ensures comfort in everyday life of the residents.

The first wing, parallel to the street, is a larger volume, and concentrates on the ground floor the entrance hall to the center, service spaces to the left (dining room, pantry, kitchen, laundry, living and service bedroom), and leisure spaces on the right (veranda, children’s room, home theater and a guest suite). On the upper floor, for the intimate areas, in the first portion, there are two suites (one with two beds and the second with three) and at the end, a service staircase, while in the second portion there are three suites (one with two beds and two double suites, the one at the end with an L-shaped design and private balcony).

All bedrooms have panel closures with shutters and bifold windows opening in cumaru wood protected by eaves, which provide privacy and natural ventilation. They also receive floor to ceiling glass sheets and a guardrail.

In the second wing, which crosses the main and continuous volume of the staircase perpendicularly, are the living room and gourmet space on the ground floor, while on the upper floor, two suites, the main one at the end: the master suite with individual bathrooms for the couple and closet. The third wing, to the left of the second and with only one floor, concentrates the main gourmet area that accommodates up to 23 people seated, toilet and gym.

A laminated wood marquee attached directly to steel beams and covered by glass connects these last two volumes. This solution allowed the structure to be free of pillars. Sideways, a set of coconut trees and shrubs in the landscaping create rhythm and perspective for the promenade.

The swimming pool with a lane of more than forty linear meters, was placed visually connecting to the condominium lake. It is worth noting that the smaller gourmet veranda partially invades the pool, and receives greenish vertical brises-soleil, in oxidized copper, in harmony with the color palette of water and vegetation.

In the interiors, natural materials predominate, as well as the facades and furniture in wood and straw that bring the coastal atmosphere, such as the Atibaia chair by Paulo Alves, rocking armchairs by Nanna Ditzel, Gervasoni armchair by Paola Navone and sofas by Paola Lenti. The curtains are in linen and sisal rugs, the decorative objects in rattan and wicker.

With a steel structure and closures in prefabricated elements, the construction had reduced time, since it partially became an assembly system; and higher quality of parts.

VILA NOVA CONCEIÇÃO BUILDING

The Vila Nova Conceição Building project came to the office at the invitation of an entrepreneur with the desire to materialize an office building going beyond the traditional corporate towers, promoting a closed competition between different architectural offices. The architectural object should meet the needs of the work areas and promote quality spaces for the professionals, to be built on a corner lot in the neighborhood of the same name and close to parks, universities and important commercial streets.

Seeking to meet the demands requested and create a fluid structure, this building was designed from a constructive system in laminated wood with a base for commerce (two floors), offices (six floors) and terrace.

The commercial gallery on the ground floor allows the building to have an active façade – an urban instrument in São Paulo city for occupying the façade located in the alignment of public sidewalks for commercial use with open access to the population – connecting the two streets through a diagonal path. Above this floor, a mezzanine is proposed, which stands out on the south façade by its polycarbonate wrapping. The first floor, in turn, would be destined for a restaurant with about 50 seats for the use of visitors and workers, while part of the slab would become a raised square with direct visual connections to the horizon and the lower floor through openings in the surface.

The six office floors have a rectangular floor plan, 27.5 meters wide and approximately 22.5 meters deep, so that the diagonal east end is transformed into a balcony. The structural wooden grid on the perimeter of the façade follows a modulation of 2.5 meters covered by glass and the face of the balconies does not receive the material directly on the exoskeleton, but on the slab, from floor to ceiling.

The vertical circulation core (with stair and three elevators) is located in the south portion, close to the toilets (male and female) with four cabins each. Crowning the building is a terrace with closed and open areas for the workers. Three basements accommodate the garage

BRINCANTE INSTITUTE

The program of the new headquarters of the Brincante Institute includes an auditorium for approximately 80 people, a rehearsal room, an administrative area, and enough storage room for musical instruments, costumes and props. The architectural concept emphasizes direct communication between the building and the street, strengthening its relationship to the neighborhood, Vila Madalena, where the Institute has been located for decades. At street level, the transition between public and private spaces occurs through vertical wooden brise-soleils that aim at exposing pedestrians to the cultural environment within the Institute. The main entrance creates a flexible open space where the box-office and an access tunnel to the auditorium are located.

The helical staircase on the left side connects three levels: ground floor, mezzanine and upper deck. The mezzanine serves as a transition and gathering space connected to the auditorium. It also serves as an extension of the ground floor foyer, allowing direct access to the seats located on the upper level and to a bridge created over the stage area. This bridge expands the capacity of the auditorium and enables artistic interventions in two levels while giving access to a garden on the back of the stage. The upper deck is composed of meeting and dressing rooms, office and small kitchen, and a multipurpose room, which opens up to a large glass window that is partially shaded by the wooden skin of the building and by the slanted roof.

HGB APT

In the renovation project for this 770m² duplex apartment in São Paulo, we sought to meet the residents’ desire to have the main rooms integrated, visually permeable and connected.

The large double-height living room is articulated to the spaces arranged at the ends from a set of vertical pivoting brises soleil, which when opened reveal the dining room and home theater on the first floor, master suite and playroom on the second floor, respectively, allowing visual integration control in the daily use of the residence. On the other hand, they protect the spaces from direct sunlight.

In this project, the staircase appears as a sculptural architectural element in the living room, with a metal sheet railing with white paint, which is extended for the circulation of the upper floor, a kind of walkway between the playroom and the couple’s suite.

The material palette was chosen seeking to create a neutral base, so that the furniture and contemporary artworks stand out. The floor of the entire apartment is in stone in large slabs. The main wall of the living room receives wooden rulers on both floors under the same alignment, which in turn mimics the access doors to the other rooms. The brises and guardrail are painted white, helping to reflect natural light throughout the space.

On the minimalist base, a few pieces of furniture specially selected with customers make up the living room, with an emphasis on the Flag Halyard armchair by Danish designer Hans Wegner.

The balcony, which continues to the interior from the leveling of the same floor, also receives a linear bench almost 17 meters in length that can be used as a living, reading and lunch space with the provision of a dining table, while flowerbeds arranged on the rear perimeter bring green to space.

FASANO ANGRA DOS REIS HOTEL + FRAD.E