SN House / Studio GT

Architects: Studio GT
Location: Londrina, Brazil
Team: Guilherme Torres, Celso Oshiro, Jean Oliveira, Rafael Miliari, Raphael Lima, Vanessa Bercini
Year: 2010
Area: 843 sqm
Photographs: Denilson Machado

Perfect for the leisure time of a large family, this house in Londrina, Brazil seems like its floating in the air. That is due to the volumetry and the large spans without pillars designed by the architect Guilherme Torres.

From the unevenness of nearly 3 meters of the ground, it came the idea of a residence with a cantilever main floor to reserve more space for the leisure area on the lower level. “I’ve docked the house on the slope” says the architect Guilherme Torres, “By doing that, I’ve released the space underneath it to the garden, the pool and the living rooms”. The irregularrelief was won by a monumental block of prestressed concrete containing cables of high strength steel driven and trapped inside the slab itself. This feature allowed the span of 17.5 meters long besides the 4.5 meters cantilever volume beyond the wall that mark boundaries of the leisure area.

Suspended and without pillars, the construction brings straight, pure and simple forms. Contrasting with the white masonry, stone and wood coatings have the power to warm the look without breaking the contemporary twist of the proposal. “By being natural, they carry an amount of rusticity and promote comfort”, says the author. The independent functioning between the two storeys was another right solution. On a daily basis, the life of the family is concentrated on the upper floor, where it is distributed the bedrooms, the kitchen, a living and dining room, all accessed by the side ramp and garage on the upper hall. But on weekends, they enjoy to receive the large family in meetings on the spacious and comfortable leisure area with pool, garden, barbecue gourmet and two generous lounges.

The project considered the use of local labor and simple materials, used in large volumes. Decorative stone, exposed concrete and white masonry are the elements that define the whole volumetry.

The project uses rainwater capture for reuse and solar heating system for faucets, showers and pool. All the residence was designed considering the solar axis and natural profile of the terrain. To maintain the privacy while not giving up the view, the entire block of bedrooms has received a closure of wood louvers, and due to this feature the house can remain open windows and have permanent cross ventilation.