The first decision was to incorporate the old garage as an internal area of the house. The area previously intended for cars was transformed into the access garden, with various species of plants. The structure of this space is made of garapeira wood, wrapped in corrugated alveolar polycarbonate, fixed with aluminum frame sets, providing a space of multiple sensations.

In this same area is the staircase leading to the bedroom floor. The transition from the social area to the intimate area is made through an intermediate space, with a mix of solid garapeira wood flooring and perforated metal sheet, which allows you to see the garden on the lower floor and the front door, as well as being permeated by natural ventilation.

The bedroom wing is organized by a central wood frame structure that supports the entire technical area of the house, as well as defining the two bathrooms of the smaller bedrooms and the wardrobe of the master bedroom. The bathroom of this master bedroom occupies the roof of the old laundry room, expanding the area of the house. It is fully lit by the double polycarbonate facade.

The annex is an extension of the grassy area. Completely open, it was constructed with more weather-resistant materials, using masonry and exposed reinforced concrete. Its roof is a garden, improving the microclimate of the area and beautifying the view from the bedrooms and the building attached to the back of the house.

Finally, the exterior part of the house and its relationship with the street: the possibility of seeing a city where houses have no walls. Of course, we are aware of the privileged situation of being in a village, but it still allows us to dream of a less individual and imprisoned future.

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The structure’s arched geometry references this striking feature of the landscape and the natural contours of the terrain. It also serves as a clever way to withstand the horizontal forces of high-altitude winds while minimizing the use of wood and metal bracing. The landscape shapes the project, and its form is its structure.

Less wood also means less material to be moved to the difficult-to-access terrain: the entire structure was produced in a controlled factory environment in collaboration with João Pini and the team at ITA Engenharia em Madeira, who were responsible for the structural design, fabrication and subsequent assembly on site by a team of specialized carpenters.

We sought to capture the essence of the site, while simultaneously introducing a high-tech wooden engineering project into the rural landscape. Seen from a distance, it qualifies as a work that tests the spatial and constructive potential of prefabricated wooden structures. Seen up close, the house is anchored to an existing rock with minimal disturbance to the site and recognizes its language in the local architecture of ceramic tile and wood huts.

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The project is based on the idea of fully utilizing this built heritage and, from this monumental structure, introducing new elements capable of accommodating the specific activities of the school while simultaneously introducing an appropriate scale and suitable finishing materials to domesticate the space.

All new elements are constructed with light industrial components so that their installation occurs as an on-site assembly. This approach aims to clearly contrast with the existing warehouses, thereby establishing an open dialogue between the preexisting and the new.

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Inside the house, a gallery connects the spaces, arranged transversely to it. The access volume is 1.50 m wide and is marked by the rhythm of the wooden roof structure, composed of 19 modules of 80 cm each. The glass facade opens like a balcony, allowing uses that go beyond simple circulation.

In contrast to the visual permeability of the gallery, the volume of the living spaces is enclosed by a plane of solid bricks, directing the view toward the opposite boundary. The bedrooms, kitchen, living room, and bathrooms are at the level of the tree foliage, with large windows framing the greenery. From there, it is possible to observe the rhythm of numerous birds, woodpeckers, and squirrels.

The roof connects the volumes transversely, divided into two slopes with a 30 cm height difference between the circulation area and the internal spaces, allowing light to enter. The width of the rooms follows the same modulation as the gallery. From the inside, it is possible to see how the limits of the house dissolve through the reflection of the green and the sky on the galvanized steel eaves.

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To generate the feeling of a single-story staggered house, a lightweight metal roof rests on the structural BTC walls of the side facades and the round metal pillars of the front and back facades. This continuous roof makes an inflection in the height of the third slab, opening the view towards the top of the valley and creating a mezzanine.

The direct dialogue between the house and the topography and the use of concrete and BTC blocks reflect the weight of the work. The building is placed on the ground, rests on it and ensures that all bedrooms, living room and kitchen have access to the patio and external areas. At the bottom of each slab, the construction touches the ground where the continuous beams-columns meet. Its front, always elevated, guarantees the downward flow of water, avoids major cuts in the land and allows the passage of some small animals that move between the houses.

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A concrete slab supported by four columns covers this set and produces different ambiences from the ceiling heights of each use. This slab was made from precast panel forms poured in place and its regular shape – a 14.00 X 10.40 m rectangle – does not match the perimeters of the other blocks generating open covered areas, balconies and internal gardens. The master bedroom is then conformed above the other two bedrooms as a mezzanine to the living room and can be enclosed by a sliding curtain. The slabs of the three masonry volumes are roof gardens that are at times inside others times outside of the enclosed perimeters of the house. This enclosure is made of light glass panels free from frames. The main roof is also a roof garden completely free from infrastructures such as water tanks and solar panels, which are then located at the rear of the plot taking advantage of its sloped section. The owners are a couple of university professors and a newborn baby girl.

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Concept and planning :

1. At the very onset of the design, it was decided to place the house around the trees without disturbing any of them, which naturally led to a meandering fragmented form of the house.

2. An existing pit in the land on site has been made into a sunken courtyard in front of the house. Trees are grown within almost bringing the green foliage into the house.

3. The house is planned as a large studio space with just one bedroom for the couple. Two guest rooms are stacked in a separate building as an annex to the main house.

Walls and Structure :

1. Walls and structures are placed so as to become sculptural elements and not on a particular grid. The house is a large column-free space, with a seamless flat concrete ceiling with no internal walls that hinder this concrete volume.

2. Three large sloping, cantilevered overhangs defy concepts of structural stability. These are meticulously designed to offer shade to the external movement around the house but also add to an otherwise flat form of the house.

3. The walls of the house range from 450mm thick to 1000mm thick. The thickness of the walls act as a natural insulator making the insides of the house much cooler than the outside.

4. The thickness also allows opportunities to use the volume of the walls to accommodate storage within, recess windows for waterproofing, and in this case the entire cooling system for the house as well.

5. An active cooling method drawing its inspiration from ancient ways of catching cool breeze into spaces, this method of air conditioning uses the thickness of the walls to its advantage, carving out small ducts within them which carry this cool air and circulate it through the large volume of the house in turn also cooling the walls in concrete.

Materials- Concrete : Recycled : Experimental :

1. The house is true to one material; that is cast concrete. The tactile walls are all cast with different experiments in concrete that render specific textures to each of the walls. The experiments include debris cast concrete; waterjet concrete and form finish concrete with pigments.

2. The thick walls of the main house in concrete are cast with debris from the site to reduce the usage of material and render a certain rough texture when the walls are ground and finished. The debris includes stone chips, broken bricks, and at times large pieces of waste stone embedded in the walls almost like a relic.

3. The guest block is cast in pink concrete which is made by adding brick powder in it. This gives a slight blush color to the guest block against the cold grey of the main house.

4. The floors are made by recycling waste stone pieces cast in concrete terrazzo. Black kadappa, white marble, and pink marble are all used in different areas in different forms to make the flooring a large artwork. Bedroom and bathroom floors are done in small broken tile chips laid in cement that gleam and reflect the sunlight brightening up these spaces.

5. Light is a very important building material in all our work. The house has multiple playful skylights, all of the different shapes, sizes, and quirky floors, however all strategically placed to catch the light throughout the day. Sharp rays of light from these fall on the floor creating almost a peek-a-boo of various light patches and shadows throughout the entire house.

The house of concrete experiments is in fact an experiment in all its aspects, its planning, construction, structural design, material usage, the play of light and shadow, and its services. The details incorporated in the architecture and interiors of this house create continual intrigue making the otherwise overwhelming space very intimate and liveable. The house is one that cannot be photographed, but a space that needs to be encountered and experienced.

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A full apartment, with a kitchen, fireplace, and bedroom, was installed in a vacant area. The space is divided by curtains, and a large skylight provides light and ventilation. Every environment allows you to enjoy privacy from the other rooms but still have contact with the gardens and the views of the surrounding nature.

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The material used was created by a process of cooking the subtle varied colours of earth into bricks, allying the technical drawings to the empirical exercise of craftsmanship. The same material was projected onto walls and ceilings, honouring and expanding its plasticity; it expands our senses, bringing texture, tone gradation and detail to the delicate gesture of drawing spaces, even inviting us for a pause to feel the smell of wet earth when it rains.

The staircase was built using raw materials, some leftovers, but although there was a precise drawing, the result is both gestual and intimate, due to small imperfections. By contrast, the facade is technological, drafted and executed with precision, thought to allow sun and wind in, to avoid artificial air conditioning systems.

The general purpose is to create a contemporary element that, when opened, would bring back some lost time of ancient forms of construction, slow passing of time, contact with the earth it feels like  “home”.

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