House B in São Paulo invites the great outdoors inside

House B is located in São Paulo, Brazil

(Image credit: press)

This house, located in the city of São Paulo, takes advantage of its privileged condition and makes the integration with the nature its distinctive trace. All its spaces keep a clear relationship with the 1,500 sq m park in which they are inserted.

In the ground floor, the social spaces are located under the shade of the upper volume of the house, connected to the gardens through a terrace and the glass sliding doors - that can be collected, creating an opening of 14 m width. The upper volume, conceived as a translucent box shelters the rooms and other spaces that require greater privacy.

The structure of the glass volume was conceived in such way that it seems to float on the garden, supported from the central pillar of reinforced concrete, that also shelters the stairs of access to the upper floor. The connection between the horizontal plans and this pillar of sustentation is strengthened by the creation of voids around the box of concrete, which are also used to bring natural light from the cover to the interior of the house.

All the upper volume is closed with a silkscreen-printed glass skin that works as a filter of light and sunshade. The print that composes the silkscreen works as a reverberation of the image of the park in the surface of the house, strengthening the interdependence between the architectural object and nature.

Exterior view — All its spaces keep a clear relationship with the 1,500 sq m park in which they are inserted

The ground floor — In the ground floor, the social spaces are located under the shade of the upper volume of the house...

Gradens through a terrace — ...connected to the gardens through a terrace and the glass sliding doors - that can be collected, creating an opening of 14 m width

The rooms and other spaces — The upper volume, conceived as a translucent box shelters the rooms and other spaces that require greater privacy

The structure of the glass volume was conceived in such way that it seems to float on the garden, supported from the central pillar of reinforced concrete, that also shelters the stairs of access to the upper floor

The garden — The structure of the glass volume was conceived in such way that it seems to float on the garden...

The upper floor — ...supported from the central pillar of reinforced concrete, that also shelters the stairs of access to the upper floor

The creation of voids — The connection between the horizontal plans and this pillar of sustentation is strengthened by the creation of voids around the box of concrete

Silkscreen-printed glass — All the upper volume is closed with a silkscreen-printed glass skin that works as a filter of light and sunshade

The surface of the house — The print that composes the silkscreen works as a reverberation of the image of the park in the surface of the house...

The architectural object — ...strengthening the interdependence between the architectural object and nature

Ellie Stathaki is the Architecture & Environment Director at Wallpaper*. She trained as an architect at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece and studied architectural history at the Bartlett in London. Now an established journalist, she has been a member of the Wallpaper* team since 2006, visiting buildings across the globe and interviewing leading architects such as Tadao Ando and Rem Koolhaas. Ellie has also taken part in judging panels, moderated events, curated shows and contributed in books, such as The Contemporary House (Thames & Hudson, 2018), Glenn Sestig Architecture Diary (2020) and House London (2022).