Built on a picturesque site surrounded by beautiful natural vegetation, the Torreão House was sketched out by Bloco Arquitetos and was completed in 2014. It offers 4,305 square feet of living space and blends seamlessly with its surrounding environment, which is exactly what its owners wanted in the first place. The abode boasts a white, minimalistic appearance and gives off a feeling of elegance and modernism.
The interior arrangements are spacious and welcoming, and they include high quality furniture pieces as well as wooden floors and floor-to-ceiling windows that provide fantastic views of the outdoors while allowing natural light to flow throughout the main living areas. The living room is found at the heart of the house and opens up towards the north and south. The bedrooms and kitchen open up towards the south exclusively and benefit from beautiful views of a natural preservation area.
The owners are also able to enjoy access to a roof garden that works as an observation deck. The garden plays a keyrole as far as thermal insulation is concerned, and it flaunts a series of transparent cubes made out of steel and glass.
From the architect:
The house is located in a residential area in Brasília, far away from the urban center and occupied by small gated communities. This part of the city still presents some characteristics of the original countryside that has originated it, with wide open spaces and native vegetation.
The young couple´s desire to have a house that would integrate itself with the surrounding landscape was the starting point of the project. Our objective was to use the architecture to highlight the landscape, not the other way around. An existing natural preservation area in the south and west sides of the plot and its strong descending slope towards the backside have both directed our response.
A big existing artificial landfill located three meters below the street level was extended using the soil that was digged out for the construction of the house. We used the resulting space to place all the internal areas in only one level. That decision has allowed the house to remain partially hidden below the street level, providing an unblocked view to the landscape.
We have used a composition of predominantly horizontal plans oriented east-west, dividing the north and south portions of the plot. The east and west façades and windowless, while the north and south façades are mostly transparent. The circulation, ramps and service areas face the north façade, which is more exposed to the street.
The bedrooms and kitchen are open to the south portion of the plot, facing the natural preservation area. All areas are connected in the backyard throung a continuous wooden floor. The living room in the central area of the house, the only room that opens to both north and south. It is accessed by ramps that cross the front garden. A longitudinal axis orient the internal circulation, crossing all the rooms.
The roof garden works as an extension of the backyard, an observation platform open to all sides. It provides thermal insulation during the whole year and reinforces the visual continuity between the street, the house and the native vegetation. Its surface is punctuated by translucid cubes suspended from the floor. They are structures of steel and glass designed to allow natural light and ventilation to the bathrooms below. During nightime they work as lanterns, taking the light from inside the house to the exteriors of the terrace.
Architects: Bloco Arquitetos
Location: Brasilia – Federal District, Brazil
Architects in Charge: Matheus Seco, Daniel Mangabeira, Henrique Coutinho
Area: 400.0 sqm
Project Year: 2014
Photographs: Haruo Mikami
Colaborators: Tatiana Lopes, Guilherme Mahana, Victor Machado, Bruno Pessoa, Rodrigo Scheel
Structural Engineer: André Torres
Electrical and Plumbing Projects: Victor Silvério
Contractor: Moura Figueiredo
Physical Model: AEscala
