RMA HOUSE
As a refuge a few kilometers from the capital of São Paulo, the project for this summer residence in the coastal region was designed seeking to promote greater privacy and enjoy its spaces. Influenced by the geographical conditions of the lot, the L-shaped design implantation provides a central patio that benefits its interiors from the best use of natural lighting and ventilation. In the center, the garden, solarium and swimming pool are accommodated, favored by the solar orientation.
Under the sloping roof, the program is distributed based on a clear sectorization: in the north-south direction of the ground floor is accommodated the double-height living room; while in the opposite volume, perpendicular to the living and dining rooms, are the service spaces – kitchen, laundry, toilet, and three guest suites, with openings in the east-west direction. This volume is entirely covered by wooden panels, which mimics the access doors and pivoting louvers of the guest suites’ bathrooms.
A granite staircase that cuts through the service volume, connects the two floors. On the upper floor is the family room, open to the living room, and three suites overlooking the main garden.
Structurally materialized in steel, in this residence we prioritize integration and thermal comfort through design decisions such as: adoption of large glass frames for transparency and constant exchange of air; permeability of the enclosures – wooden lattice panels that attenuate sunlight along the entire circulation gallery; louvers on the front of the rooms; in addition to the continuity of the floor in all environments.
The interiors seek to translate the concepts of cozy and lightness. In the living room, although with modest spans and double height ceilings, the constant presence of wood – in the panels and ceiling – visually warms the space, while creating a more palatable scale for residents. The floor and volume of the fireplace has its surfaces covered in Branco Siena granite. The furniture includes linen upholstery, design pieces (such as the Mandacaru armchair, by Baba Vaccaro, and John Graz armchair, by the designer of the same name), and others by the Bernardes Arquitetura team especially for the project, such as coffee tables with hydraulic tiles on top. The composition also receives handcrafted elements. At dinner room, the wooden table is made up of Rio chairs, by Carlos Motta, and a stone sideboard developed by Bernardes interior design team.
In this space, the wooden louvers are positioned only in the lower area of the north facade, choreographing the light that enters the space. The glazing can be completely retracted on both facades, allowing for cross ventilation.
From the mezzanine, the layout of the lounge space facing the living room, added to the strategic inclination of the roof and glass closures in the upper portion of the three facades, directs the residents’ view to the surrounding forest that embraces the residence. The home theater is oriented in the opposite direction, which is protected from light by an system of closing the side facade with zigzag panels, so that on each of the alternate sides, slender openings in sheets of glass are applied, preserving the control of light entry, but allowing air circulation.
The material palette of the bedrooms follows that applied in the other environments, prevailing the use of wood – lining, panels, furniture and accessories. Bathrooms can be integrated into the rest of the room through pivoting louvers that offer an inside-out view.
In the garden, the perimeter of the pool is defined by curved lines that refer to the natural ones. On the edges and walkable areas, irregular stone slabs are juxtaposed, surrounded by the tropicality of the landscaping signed in partnership with Jundu Paisagismo.
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.