Isay Weinfeld

Terra Nova House was built in a 730sqm plot in leafy Jardins neighborhood, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, for a young couple and their daughter.

The combination of three main factors – the size and shape of the plot (trapezoid-like, it is narrow at the front and wider at the back), the building code and the client’s program -, led us to organize the house around 4 levels, and to set the house at the foremost part of the terrain, leaving space for a gym room, a swimming pool and a small garden at the back.

From the street, one approaches the house across the front garden directly to the living areas – dining and sitting rooms -, which through large, full-width, full-height sliding doors open up onto the garden, allowing for broad integration between indoor and outdoor spaces, as also broad natural light and ventilation, helping to keep temperature cool and pleasant green views whichever way one looks at.

This integration can also be seen and felt in both the dining room and the kitchen, where adjacent decked terraces set in extension allow for this laid-back family to enjoy relaxed everyday meals. The first and second floors hold the private quarters of the house – three bedrooms and a family room -, while the basement floor take in the garage, the mechanical room, the laundry, a storage and the employees’ quarters, these facing a small indoor garden.

A swimming pool is set at the back garden, just next to the gym room.