House in Piracicaba

The house is located in the city of Piracicaba, two hours driving from Sao Paulo metropolis. The site, in a private community on the outskirt, takes one face of block measuring 60m long and 18m wide, with an 8m slope between opposite streets.

Four programs
Four programs are combined in this building. It is a permanent home for the couple and a weekend house for their daughters’ families. In addition, it shelters a music studio for him and a painting atelier for her, two activities they both have been doing for year throughout their lives, and have plans to intensify this dedication in the new house.
The two houses – permanent and weekend — were combined in a single program that shares common areas in one single level defined at the midpoint of the plot and with a more direct relationship to the avenue. The music studio is underneath it, facing directly the lower street and the painting atelier is located on the top opening to the roof garden with access from the upper street level. As a result, through this space arrangement, house, music and art can have each one their own architectural identity and address.
Rised and sunked volumes
In longitudinal section, the building is perceived as elevated from the street below on the west side, and as if undergrounded from the street above on the east side. From the avenue, on the south, the delicate transition between one thing and another, as a balance made up of opposing things: the elevated volume of the swimming pool and, on the opposite side, the garden volume as solid rock rising from the ground.
Structure and construction method
The structure was made combining bearing walls, as columns, and flat slabs, without beams. Two volumes measuring 12.0m by 9.5m in plan were placed on the west and east side of the site. Bearing walls in their side facades define a 9.5m long spam for the slabs. Programmatically they correspond to the bedrooms, that one on the west for the permanent home and those on east side for the weekend house. In between them, a third volume with same size in plan has structural walls in the middle allowing more transparent facades. This third block is a connector to both bedrooms volumes and it accommodate living room facing south, kitchen to north and vertical circulation. The south facade unifies the three volumes through a slab that links them and expands the living room towards south to the garden box on the Avenue.

PUBLICATIONS:

SPBR ARQUITETOS / HOUSE IN PIRACICABA
ga houses / japão n 193 / 2014