BLOCO Arquitetos

Franca House

Franca House
© Haruo Mikami

FRANCA HOUSE

BLOCO Arquitetos

ARCHITECTS
BLOCO Arquitetos

AUTHORS
Daniel Mangabeira, Henrique Coutinho, Matheus Seco

ENGINEERING
André Torres

PHOTOGRAPHS
Haruo Mikami

AREA
310 m²

MANUFACTURERS
Cerâmica Atlas, Criarte Esquadrias, Hunter Douglas, Marmoraria Alvorada, Suvinil

INSTALLATIONS
Victor Silvério

COLLABORATOR
Tatiana Lopes

YEAR
2017

LOCATION
Brasília, Brazil

CATEGORY
Houses

Text description provided by architect.

The Franca House is located in na urban plot in one of the residential areas in Brasília, Brazil, called Lago Norte (North Lake). Here the recent low in the rent prices and the estabilization in the prices of the land have favoured a change in the neighborhood´s dwellers profile.

Franca House
© Haruo Mikami
Franca House
© Haruo Mikami

The settlement of young families with children besides the occupation of the houses by new residential programs such as student shared houses have increased the density of inhabitants.

In our view this transformation creates a new opportunity to reactivate the idea of the house as an extension of the city and vice-versa, which is a way of seeing the public space that was usual for the families that lived there in decades before.

Franca House
© Haruo Mikami
Franca House
© Haruo Mikami

Therefore the fundamental idea of the project was to create a strong possibility of connection between the public space (the street) and the private space (the house).

The sliding access gate is transparent and it is built with a steel mesh attached to a thin steel frame, all painted in black. It can be completely open together with the lateral opening gate, leaving the internal floor completely connected to the street through the ramp.

Franca House
© Haruo Mikami
Franca House
© Haruo Mikami

The sanded natural stone that was used in the ramp connects to the concrete floor of the public walkway, creating a continuous surface. Most part of the ground floor is set up in only one space that contains the uses of the living room, dinner table and kitchen.

It´s a space that is characterized by the exposed concrete of the structure of the upper floor (which makes the ceiling of the ground floor), its circular columns and the transparent window frames that allow an open visual connection between the public space and the backyard.

Franca House
© Haruo Mikami
Franca House
© Haruo Mikami
Franca House
© Haruo Mikami

In this mostly transparent part of the house the exposed structure doesn´t hide the imperfections that are inherent to its construction.

Leaving behind the marks that were left by the concrete molds in opposition to the uniform surfaces with few openings of the white volumes on the first floor and part of the ground floor.

These volumes conform the part of the program that had a bigger need for privacy or solar protection such as: bedrooms, bathrooms and service rooms.

Franca House
© Haruo Mikami
Franca House
© Haruo Mikami

Two terraces were created on the first floor. One is open to the street and the backyard, besides being visually connected to the living room though a window/bench that opens to a double-height central void. The second one is private and it is directly connected to the bigger bedroom.

The stretching of the lateral walls aims to create shade on the terraces and to protect the interiors from unwanted views from the neighboring houses.

Franca House
© Haruo Mikami



Franca House
Planta - Térreo
Franca House
Planta - 1º Pavimento


Franca House
Section
Franca House
Section
Franca House
Section
Franca House
Axonometry

BLOCO Arquitetos
T +55 61 32016912
BLOCO Arquitetos
SCS Q. 01 BL H - Asa Sul, Brasília - DF, 70399-900, Brazil