Yupi Residence by Raiz Arquitetura
Yupi Residence steps back from the street in Bertioga, Brazil, where Raiz Arquitetura stages a coastal house for weekends and lingering vacations. The multigenerational retreat in Riviera de São Lourenço gathers three generations under one roof, balancing sociable poolside life with quiet interiors that look toward preserved tropical vegetation. Generous volumes, layered facades, and measured connections to the garden give this contemporary home a calm but distinctly social presence.
Late afternoon light catches the titanium-toned slats, throwing long shadows across the side garden and pool. Inside, tall panes of glass pull the native forest into daily circulation while a broad cumaru door marks the threshold between street and retreat.
This project is a house for weekends and vacations, conceived for a multigenerational family that treats Riviera de São Lourenço as shared ground. Located in Bertioga, Brazil and designed by Raiz Arquitetura, the residence turns a conventional lot into a layered sequence of rooms tuned to forest views and ocean air. Plan logic drives the experience: two longitudinal bars, one social and one support, stretch along the property, mediating privacy, climate, and the pull of the garden.
Layered Volumes And Views
The house grows from a 9-meter-wide lateral easement facing west, which becomes the true front, with gardens and broad openings aligned to light and vegetation. Treating the plot almost like a corner lot, the architects stack a cantilevered volume in titanium-colored aluminum against a dark upper “box” of suites, so the composition steps and hovers rather than reads as a flat facade. A roof structure with precise cutouts frames these volumes, shaping patches of sky and deep shade as one walks along the side garden axis. Vertical aluminum louvers with a wood-like finish temper the western sun, keeping interiors clear and bright without losing thermal comfort.
Social Life Along The Terrace
On the ground floor, the social bar stretches from the entrance hall to a generous gourmet terrace and pool, so daily life tracks a simple, readable line. Living and dining rooms open toward the side gardens, with large glass panels dissolving the boundary to the lap lane, spa, and waterfall that define the leisure area. An L-shaped retractable closure wraps the gourmet zone, allowing it to stay active under sun, rain, or cool evening breezes while maintaining easy connection to the kitchen. At the rear, a low concrete slab structure tucks in the sauna, gym, changing room, and mechanical room, framing views back to native vegetation and closing the outdoor sequence with a solid edge.
Quiet Retreats Above
Five upper-level suites occupy the darker “box” volume, their long window frames drawing continuous ribbons of forest and sky into private routines. A suspended walkway threads between rooms, connecting to a stair lit from above by a skylight slit that keeps circulation bright even on overcast days. In the master suite, a bath lounge with a soaking tub faces the trees, trading ornament for simple alignment with foliage and changing light. Acoustic control in rooms such as the home theater—where sliding closures and integrated insulation wrap the walls—lets family members find privacy while others stay active below.
Light, Landscape, And Detail
Material choices reinforce the plan by clarifying thresholds and degrees of openness between interior rooms and outdoor terraces. Exposed concrete, textured cement finishes, black frames, and natural wood recur in different combinations, so movement from hall to garden to pool reads as one continuous experience rather than abrupt shifts. Built-in carpentry folds into doors and wall panels, particularly in intimate areas, softening acoustics and letting storage vanish into the background. Warm, diffused lighting indoors picks up grain and texture, while recessed outdoor spotlights graze foliage and underline the interplay of solids and voids after dark.
As evening falls, light lingers along the side garden, catching on louvers, water, and low planting. The house holds a steady rhythm between quiet suites, active terrace, and the dense line of tropical vegetation beyond. Plan and volume stay legible from every angle, turning a weekend retreat into a clear, navigable home for shared time.
Photography by Manuel Sá
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