Located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil, the Box House was designed by young architecture firm FCStudio as a personal project for the firm’s architect Flavio Castro.
The main challenge was to build a corner house with two facades leaning against the neighbors, that took full advantage of the terrain and natural light, as well as create privacy from the street as much as possible. Through the design of the Box House, FCStudio aimed to establish three types of relationship with the immediate surrounding.
On the ground floor, the boundaries between indoor and outdoor are diminished though the facade that can easily open into the tropical landscape. The balance is reached through careful integration of industrial steel with vegetation.
The entire floor is designed in as an open space, with the exception of the bathroom and kitchen. The custom kitchen acts as a divider between the different functions of the house.
The second flood incorporates a second lounge area, a bedroom and two bathrooms. The modular façade here allows for quick changes. The mini-wave steel doors can be fully closed to block direct sunlight and allow for privacy and noise control, as the property is in close proximity to nearby public streets and airport.
When all open, the entire floor is flooded with natural light, and creates a deep connection with the small outdoor garden.
The roof garden, on the third floor, works as an urban oasis as it allows the observation of sunrise / sunset and surroundings from a high point in a neighborhood composed only by low houses.
The form of the house came as from the design restrictions imposed by site conditions. The design started with the maximum amount of built space allowed by law, and slowly carved away to create internal courtyard and vertical circulations.
Despite having two exterior walls facing the neighbours, and thus limiting the use of glass, FCStudio maximized the potential of open space through creative use of modular walls.
The entire structure of the house was made out of steel and concrete to speed up the construction, as the architect was in a hurry to move in.
This fact was further strengthened by the adoption of prefabricated elements, although only 5% of houses in Brazil use this technique.
Flavio Castro
For a possible transformation in the future, the house already contains the necessary infrastructure to convert the upper living space into two full suites.
The interior was also designed by FCStudio, with furniture selection from brands such as Moroso, Foscarini, BD Barcelona and Vibia. The colour scheme is predominant neutral with accents of red, blue and green.
Facts
Design: FCStudio
Location: Brazil
Built area: 240m²
Site area: 200m²
Photos: Pedro Kok
Exterior landscaping: Rossin + Tramontina
Construction: FCStudio
Structural Engineering: Useaço
Electrical and Hydraulic: Waldir Mirhan
Metal structure: Useaço
Basic Material: C & C – House and Construction
Concrete: Intercement (Cauê)
Metal Facade: Iron Logic
Aluminum Frames: Esquadralum
Glass: Jacqsa
Granite countertops: Santorini
Plumbing: Deca , Grohe
Painting: France painting
Air conditioning: STR
Waterproofing: Tecveda
Woodwork: Creatto
Raised roof floor: Levitare
Furniture: Estudio Bola , Moroso, Foscarini, Vibia, BD Barcelona
