Itaipu House / Equipe Lamas – 【Architectural CAD Drawings】

Architects: Equipe Lamas
Location: Brazil
Lead Architect: Samuel Lamas
Team: Samuel Lamas, Anna Albano, Camila Abrahão
Engineering: Vladimir Villaverde
Construction: Ademasso Rocha
Area: 3767.3 ft2
Project Year: 2018
Photographs: Haruo Mikami

Text description provided by the architects. This simple and comfortable home, located in a condominium near Lago Sul in Brasilia, is an efficient, low-cost building owned by family of public agents looking for a home that would offer an enhanced connection with nature and a positive family cohesion.

Designed by a local architect Samuel Lamas, the implantation of the house disposes generous distances from the plot boundary and preserves native trees of the cerrado region. The silent architecture in human scale is in harmony with the surroundings and the spaces positioned according to a functional logic guarantee amplitude and connection with the exterior by full-height glazing that faces out onto gardens in every facade.

The living room welcomes the two main garden views and the wall that divides it from the kitchen visually preserves the cooking area. The kitchen is the heart of the house and a colorful tile carpet with traditional motifs defines the dinning place. The atelier, separated by a multifunctional furniture that also serves the kitchen, has a playful use for the couple and its position allows them to look after the children while playing in the garden. The terrace is free of structural interferences so that the garden is appreciated in its entirety. The bedrooms are facing east while the master suite have independent access. Walls ensure privacy for the residents while protecting the interior from excessive sunlight. The garage, positioned in the west side, gets a perforated plate panel for constant ventilation in the service and storage area. The pool is tucked away from the house to remain in the sun and the wood deck under the shade of the trees defines an open-air living space.

The flat corten steel roof extends to shade the glass panels with metal trellis for climbing plants. It provides no maintenance and rests either on concrete and metallic pillars, mimicked near the perimeter windows. The handmade iron frames have tilting windows for cross ventilation and solar panels heat the water throughout the house.

The choice of authentic low-cost materials and solutions, besides reinforcing the simple and honest character of the residence, allowed the construction of 350 m2 with US$ 189,000. The polished concrete floor and the masonry walls proved to be the most economical and aesthetically satisfying solution for the residents. In the “wet” areas a single type of gray granite was used – the most economical one found in the market – that follows the chromatic continuity of the cement floor. The wall of the main facade is lined with light gray fulget for a natural feel on the porch and plywood panels used in the lining, kitchen furniture and bathrooms, warms up the house and connect the interior with the exterior.

The colors of the landscape continues in the furniture. The sofa has the same color of the local reddish earth and the Santa Helena green rug remits to the grass. Many pieces were designed by the architect Samuel Lamas such as the set of sofa with armchairs in iron and Suede, the coffee table, the shelf system, the dining table with chairs and the porch bench. With the same DNA, those pieces communicate with the architecture due to lightness, materiality and simplicity.