Casa Serra Azul, a wooden structure and prefabricated panel house designed by Apiacás Arquitetos in 2022, occupies a plot in São Paulo, Brazil. The layout embraces a horizontal form, maximising interaction with the land and providing excellent cross-ventilation. Its cohesive design, featuring a large wooden roof, aims to minimise material waste and introduce new construction possibilities, prioritising environmental concerns.
Casa Serra Azul Seeks to Maximise Land Interaction
Casa Serra Azul, a São Paulo house designed by Apiacás Arquitetos in 2022, occupies a plot in the Itupeva municipality’s gated community. The project aims to maximise interaction with the land, while a prefabricated wooden structure and panels ensure environmental sustainability.
The program organises various spaces along with the land’s slight slope, facilitating covered-yet-open outdoor circulation like traditional Brazilian houses. The non-clustered volumes enable effective cross-ventilation for excellent thermal comfort.
Introspective circulation protects residents’ privacy, forming a cloister-like arrangement along the courtyard. Subtle windows with small gardens intermittently appear along the route.
The independent volumes unite under a single wooden roof. With a 1.25×1.25m grid pattern, its covering alternates between opaque, open, and glass-sealed sections, shaded by horizontal wooden brise-soleils.
The design accommodates the living room and outdoor kitchen half a level above the central courtyard’s pool area.
The wooden roof provides a continuous horizontal plane, visually unifying the concrete panels.
Construction Phases Show Innovation in Prefabrication
The project employs a three-phase construction process, alternating prefabrication and assembly. A concrete slab foundation aligns with the slope, avoiding excess earthworks. Wooden structure, concrete panels, and window frames prefabrication begins simultaneously.
The wooden structure assembly follows the curing and polishing of the concrete floor. Cementitious industrial panels, roof frames, and wooden brise-soleils complete the roof. Installation of concrete panels, window frames, electrical and plumbing infrastructure, along with fixtures and furniture, marks the final phase.
Apiacás Arquitetos bases Casa Serra Azul on prior prefabrication experiments, seeking new construction possibilities. Prefabrication minimises material waste, excessive water use, and improves workforce efficiency. Unlike earlier projects, the design combines a wooden structure and concrete panels, traditionally considered antagonistic materials.
The innovative construction prioritises coherence and poetic quality. Solid concrete volumes beneath a lighter wooden plane resemble a large cloud-like structure, unifying the overall composition.
