A new concrete house in São Paulo state is designed to open up to its hillside views

A private house in Valinhos, a municipality in the state of São Paulo, makes the most of a sloping site and far-reaching views thanks to designs by Fernanda Padula and Juliana Risso Arquitetura. At 640 square metres, the Casa Cedro has a long, linear plan that steps down the hillside, starting with a sunken entrance courtyard reached from a glazed hallway.

This entrance level also houses the bedrooms and home office, with the three primary suites orientated south across the garden to the lake view beyond. Guest accommodation is located adjacent to the hallway. On descending the cantilevered entrance staircase, one arrives in the main living area, a large open-plan space with a glazed sliding wall that opens up a covered outdoor space adjoining the pool.

The views are orientated towards the horizon, with service areas and staff quarters also located on this floor. The broad patio and pool run the width of the house, alongside a staircase that descends the sloping garden. Another external staircase runs alongside the house, hugging the edge of the plot.

Beneath the pool there’s a changing area, sauna and gym overlooking the garden, making the most of the steep gradient. This arrangement, which raises the pool up above the landscape as it drops away puts the water on the same level as the tree tops, inviting reflections and ‘amplifying the sense of suspension that defines the house,’ according to the architects.

The house is made from structural concrete, with shuttering patterns left exposed and contrasting with the delicate hardwood timber screens and slats that create privacy and transformation for the exterior façades in addition to adding warmth to the interiors. ‘Casa Cedro is more than a residence,’ say the architects, ‘it is an immersion into the landscape and a poetic dialogue between architecture, nature and materiality.’

Fernanda Padula & Juliana Risso, FernandaPadula.com, @fefepadula, @julianarissoarq