Rigorous concrete and exuberant patterns meet in a weekend house in Brazil

Grupo SP designed a house in Itu, São Paulo, around a central void. This exterior space revolves around a pool paved with playful patterns and surrounded by rigorous concrete elements.

Grupo SP, founded in São Paulo in 2004, designed a weekend house in Itu, State of São Paulo. The residence sits on an extensive and smoothly sloping plot, in a semi-rural landscape. Its C-shaped plan revolves around a central void which opens towards the surrounding landscape.

A muscular 3 m wide and 45 m long concrete structure that works as a beam separates the residence from the road. The three volumes that define the plan of the house rely on this beam-like element: this is a circulation space that connects the sleeping area on the South-west side and the living area, facing North-east. As the circulation space follows the slope downhill, the living area regains an additional floor.

Grupo SP has found a mediation between domestic space and the natural environment, namely the outdoor space at the centre of the plan. This area is dominated by a swimming pool and is paved with exuberant motifs reminiscent of the calçada portuguesa – a typical pavement that also recurs in the work of the landscape architect of Modern Brazil. Roberto Burle-Marx.

  • House in Itu
  • Itu, São Paulo, Brazil
  • Grupo SP
  • Alvaro Puntoni, João Sodré
  • Alexandre Mendes, Bruno Satin, Gabriela Villas-Bôas, Micaela Vendrasco, Ricardo Fróes, Paola Ornaghi
  • Benedictis Engenharia
  • JPD Instalações
  • MPM Ar Condicionado
  • Tomás Rebollo
  • Ricardo Heder
  • Andrés Sandoval
  • Reinaldo Francisco Ramos (Renner), CAS Construtora Ltda
  • 3,275 sqm
  • 775 sqm
  • 2018