MLC HOUSE

Located on a rectangular perimeter lot in a predominantly residential neighborhood in São Paulo, the main intention of MLC House was to embrace the green, in addition to diluting the notions between inside and outside, creating a generous living area.

With that in mind, the project became an interesting challenge: to think about the architectural insertion of a typically urban residence, where the integration between the built space and the new landscaping would play a fundamental role in the conformation of a new panoramic, since the land lacked privileged views. It was therefore decided to position the new garden at the north end, where the views from the social spaces and suites would be directed.

As a structuring element and assuming a fundamental role in the organization of the plan and from which the entire program unfolds, two concrete gables were created, cutting the lot in the longitudinal direction, which in turn separates the pedestrian entrance from the garage; and social area of service spaces.

The house is raised a few centimeters from the street level, from where a staircase is created, integrated to the garden of tropical species, signed in partnership with Cenário Paisagismo. The largest concrete gable that cuts through the main volume has a cantilevered front end, reinforcing the idea of lightness to the whole.

Supported on the concrete foundation, the upper volume is built in a metallic structure, composed externally by a set of different layers responsible for filtering natural light and bringing the vegetation to the interior. The outer layer is composed of a diagonal grid made of Itaúba wood, which serves as a brise-soleil; followed by landscaping in perimeter planters; and finally, aluminum frames and floor-to-ceiling glass.

Bringing the desired permeability, the living room is completely integrated into the garden when the frames on three of its sides are retracted, referring to the idea of a large balcony. The strategic arrangement favors the cross circulation of the winds.

To bring the cozy mood added to the natural atmosphere, the material palette of the social spaces was rigorously designed to create a harmonious foundation for the interiors: apparent steel and reinforced concrete structure; tiled floor, and wooden plank lining.

In furniture, a mixture of pieces prevails (from family collection; Brazilian designers; and pieces in solid wood). Across the living room, a sideboard with an iron structure and wooden bases – referring to the materiality of architecture – accommodates pieces of art and decorative objects. In the composition, we highlight the ZC1 sofa (original from 1950 and reissued in 2019) by Zanine Caldas, and the Janete side table, designed by Sergio Rodrigues.

In the dining room, the raw wood table is composed of a set of Lucio chairs, designed by Sergio Rodrigues. Above, the seed pendant, was specially developed for the project by the Bernardes Arquitetura team.

The main vertical circulation is carried out through a staircase with concrete steps and a steel substructure embedded in the concrete wall, connecting the different floors. Above this, a generous skylight brings permanent light during the day. The guardrail is made of steel sheets with a white paint finish.

On the sides of the circulation on the first floor, freijó wood panels camouflage the access doors to the bedrooms and support closets. In this space is arranged the intimate family room. In addition, an internal garden reinforces the relationship to that positioned on the perimeter of the upper volume. Wooden demolition boards cover the surface of the entire floor of the circulation and bedrooms, with the exception of the bathrooms, which receive a wooden deck.

In the suites, the idea of tropicality is achieved from the green that enters – physically and visually – the space in two moments: through the planter in the edge of the facade, and through the massive canopy of trees in the background. The wooden skin that envelops the exterior allows strategic views in the rest spaces, while protecting the interior.

CANTO DA LAGOA RESIDENTIAL

In our proposal for this residential development in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, we seek to preserve the original landscape of the large land facing the lagoon, minimizing the impact on the topography, vegetation and the visual of the surroundings. Therefore, with nature as the protagonist, the space was designed with scales of a collective nature, while considering the individual privacy of each unit and the greatest possible integration with greenery and water.

Different from the traditional apartment condominiums with multi-facade towers, our premise was the idealization of a vertical village, as suspended houses embraced by vegetation. In this sense, we ensured that each housing unit had its view towards the lagoon and that all apartments had terraces with access to the green area – some a large backyard – both on the ground floor and on the upper floors.

In this development of 13,192 square meters of built area, we chose to use materials that had the meaning closely linked to its function in the building, the position in which it will reside, and the role it will play. The base volumes are in stone, which works as a foundation so that the blocks of the units above, in turn coated with a modular cementitious skin, bring horizontality and lightness to the set. The definition of these materials, surrounded by exposed concrete girders of the beams and edges of the terraces, delineate the transition between the rough and the bold, from the base to the top. The wood applied to the façade through the brises comes as an element that heats up and at the same time brings a reference to the nature present in its surroundings.

With the landscape as protagonist, we designed with pure geometries of architecture amidst the organic forms of nature, which despite sounding contrasting, highlights the green, framing it. Horizontal planes of the thin roofs on the tops of the blocks and the contrast of the solid and empty facades, provided by the volumes of the covered terraces and glazed panels, reinforce the horizontality of the work, as if the architecture recomposed the original land topography.

The cadence of the modulations and slats on the façade brings a more palatable scale of architecture to the resident, together with the proportion of volumes and ceiling heights in the accesses. Monumentality was not sought, but rather a “silent” implantation amidst the stunning panorama.

The connecting link between the volumes and spaces created is through the seam that the landscape project, developed in partnership with JA8 Paisagismo, exerts between architecture and landscape. In this way, the integration between the building and the surroundings takes place as a natural result, without breaks, but rather as a good conversation.

EB HOUSE

Built in a predominantly residential neighborhood in São Paulo, this house has its program distributed over two floors and a basement. The project is organized around a central patio embraced by the L-shaped of the implantation, defined by the overlapping of two trapezoidal volumes.

On the ground floor are the living spaces (living and dining room, gourmet area, TV room and home office) and services (kitchen and pantry). Demarcating the entrance to the residence, a pergola made of glued laminated wood and covered with glass protects residents from the sun and rain.

A generous panel was developed on the living room’s main wall, which does not touch the floor, with a glass closure in the central area, seeming to float in space and responsible for accommodating the artworks. The surface, like the other walls, is covered in stone, so that the canvases assume the leading role.

Integrating the social areas, all spaces are united in a continuous axis with openings facing the garden. The office can be closed off using a set of sliding panels. In the living room furniture, classics of Brazilian design stand out, such as the Pênsil benches, designed by Etel Carmona, and Cubo armchairs, by Jorge Zalszupin.

Isabel Duprat’s landscaping project, whose layout contrasts organic lines with the rigidity of the architecture, involves the open areas with leisure spaces and the swimming pool.

On the first floor are the suites, as well as a family room.

The brut foundation of the lower floor is contrasted in the choice of materials for the upper façade, so that the translucent glass brise-soleils on the face overlooking the garden are supported by two trays that also fulfill the role of eaves. Detailed by Bernardes Arquitetura, these work sometimes as a sunshade, sometimes as bedroom windows. On the opposite façade and facing the street, the eaves gives way to a linear planter, bringing greenery to the interior.

VILLAS FASANO

The project for Villas Fasano aims to establish a harmonious relationship with the local landscape.

While the ground floor and recreational areas are fully integrated into their surroundings, the intimate spaces of the house are sheltered in an elevated pavilion, offering a wide perspective of the horizon.
The cross-shaped layout defines the two pavilions that distribute the entire program of the house. The cross-shaped layout defines the two pavilions that distribute the entire architectural program of the house. In the lower pavilion, the axis towards the beach is characterized by the solidity of pigmented concrete and accommodates the social and service areas. On the upper floor, the lightness of the wooden brises guarantees the privacy of the rooms while promoting the integration of the building into the landscape.

CIDADE JARDIM TOWER

Invited to a closed competition for the development of a mixed-use building, promoted by a well-known developer in the city of São Paulo and with whom we had previously worked, this occasion represented a great opportunity for Bernardes Arquitetura.

Proposed for a plot at the point of convergence of two of the main business axes of São Paulo, the Brigadeiro Faria Lima and Luís Carlos Berrini avenues and the residential neighborhood Cidade Jardim, the Cidade Jardim Tower unites commercial, corporate and residential spaces, distributed in 37 floors that privilege the skyline view.

The tower’s intermediate position between the skyscrapers and housing blocks required a transition typology that merged the monumental and low scales of its surroundings in a single building. In the privileged urban situation, a public square is created at the shortest edge of the lot, giving access to the main entrance of the business center and connecting the two streets to the building.

One of the issues of the Bernardes Arquitetura team was how to introduce the 115 meter high tower silently over the landscape and, above all, in the urban axis that is still undergoing transformations. With this in mind, it was decided to fragment the different programs into four overlapping volumes, so that each mass in trapezoidal section and rounded vertices is shaped with smaller dimensions as it is raised, as a cascade effect that makes a fluid transition. Between each one, amenity areas are created from the retreat of the frames, which give rise to a large eave and terrace.

In the openings of the entire building, slanted frames create rhythm and greater depth to the facade, coated in marble on the first floors and zinc on the others. Its angles maximize direct sun protection while directing the views.

On the massive base are the commercial spaces – a bank on the ground floor with double height and mezzanine, and on the terrace with independent access, a restaurant and bar.

Between each of the upper sections, shared spaces are created whose programs vary according to their public access. From the third to the sixth floor, with an open plan with a central vertical circulation core, are intended for offices.

With a recessed area and considerable cantilevered eaves that provide a shaded area during the day, in addition to perimeter planters, the seventh floor locates a living area for residents of the lofts from the eighth to the nineteenth floor. On the twenty-first floor, another terrace of a lower dimension and with an unobstructed view above the adjacent buildings concentrates a living area for the residents of the apartments from the twenty-first to the thirty-seventh floor.

JSL HOUSE

Located in a residential condominium in Paraty, in Rio de Janeiro, a few meters away from the beach, the JSL House was designed from the idea of connection – visual, privileging the view to the sea; and living and leisure spaces.

Arriving on the street, the visitor is faced with the steel volume carefully arranged on the landscaping with tropical species. On the left side, a triangular pergola, ingeniously created from the extension of the steel beams protects the garage between the garden.

Entering the residence, a lowered area with traditional height is later surpassed by the double height, from the structural steel mesh.

At the perimeter of the entire residence, metal extenders are attached directly to the beams, where fixed brises soleil of the same material are installed, perpendicular to the bedrooms and gourmet area. These receive gray paint, following the same finish as the structure and frames. This solution enables thermal comfort from the shading of the social area, which, in addition to the generous opening of the window frames, contributes to abundant natural ventilation.

The living receives wooden slats on the walls that also cover the ceiling of the lowered area of the hall and dining room, bringing comfort. In the same pattern, access doors to the TV room and service areas are mimicked. At the double height of the living room, a large fixed glass next to the checkered mesh brise allows to see the vegetation, protecting it from exposure to the sun, like a veil.

In furniture and accessories, typically beach textures are reimagined in a contemporary way. Sofa and armchairs are finished in linen, while the rug is made of sisal. At the end of the dining room, a screen made of sailor rope.

Entrance hall, living and dining rooms become balconies when their frames are open to the gourmet area and the pool. Integrating the spaces, the same materials of the interior are used in the external floor and wall of the barbecue grill. On the roof, an awning with an electronic opening can be opened or closed.

At the center of the living room, the steel staircase connects the private areas to the ground floor. Above the hall, the home office allows a certain visual permeability directly to the beach from white metallic fins. In the bedrooms, sliding frames from floor to ceiling can be completely opened, which together with the colorless glass railing and breezes, bring the breeze and the blue of the horizon to the interior. The bedding follows a pattern of beach colors and textures, such as navy blue, ocher and nautical striped pattern, and the headboard receives the same wood used on the ground floor.