Brazilian firm Estúdio Penha has tucked a brick-clad home into the sloped landscapes of an expansive forest outside of São Paulo. Partially embedded into a grassy hill, the gorgeous Quinta da Baroneza House blends quietly into its natural setting thanks to an expansive green roof and muted brick cladding that matches the same color of the local soil.
Located in an open patch of the Atlantic Forest, the nearly 7,000-square-foot home was designed to blend in with its surroundings while providing a relaxing retreat for the homeowners. According to the architects, they created the exterior cladding by using mainly broken bricks and brick residues in order to symbolically create “a direct connection to the large and small pieces that compose life.”
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The brick home is comprised of three main volumes that are separated by a smooth, concrete, L-shaped wall. This large wall crosses through the main volumes, creating a corridor that traverses the length of the building to an inner courtyard that connects the interior with the exterior. Further enhancing this connection to the natural surroundings is a large metal staircase that leads up to an expansive green roof planted with native vegetation.
Although underground, the living space in the first volume is illuminated with natural light thanks to a strategically placed skylight. Much of the interior features walls with rough cast plaster finish, concrete touches and exposed plumbing and electrical wiring, all of which give the living space a cool, industrial aesthetic. Flooring found throughout the home was made out of reforested wood.
The largest area in the home is the main living room with a front facade comprised of massive sliding glass doors, which open out to the Hijau stone pool surrounded by a wooden deck. The pool was created with tiles in differing shades of green to create the sensation of being in a lake. Definitely the heart of the home, this area blends in nicely with the terrain with a rustic vine veranda that provides shade from the harsh summer sun.
Via ArchDaily
Images via Estúdio Penha
