Jardim do Sol House

House located in a high-end gated community in the southern district of Porto Alegre, Brazil. The program is divided in three floors for a couple with two children who enjoy having friends over for parties and celebrations.

The underground level has technical rooms, staff rooms and parking for 40 cars – in fact, it’s a small museum for the owner’s antique car collection. The ground floor has a huge open space with living and dining rooms, a home office, a home theater and the kitchen. Large sliding doors make it possible to hide or completely open the home theater and the kitchen to the living room. A separate building houses a space for entertainment and parties. The second floor has four en-suite bedrooms.

The design uses two huge concrete walls on the sides to block the neighbors’ views to the house, granting privacy – same strategy used with for locating the entertainment space in the back of the site. The southern façade has double height glass windows, allowing the entire living room to enjoy beautiful views of Lake Guaíba. The northern façade has shadings and cantilevers that allow the control of direct sunlight – reason why all four bedrooms face the north. In the roof, a steel grid extends above the inner yard, creating the feeling that the house extends itself, mixing outdoor and indoor spaces.

The underground level is a concrete box built with a ribbed slab roof that allows large spans. A reflecting pool with a glass bottom allows natural light in – as well as views from the inner yard. The house structure is made of steel with slender pillars, also allowing large free spans. The entire project follows a 190x190 cm grid that is clearly visible in the roof structure throughout the house.