Larissa 5 Residence by Gilda Meirelles
Larissa 5 Residence unfolds as a terraced family house in São Paulo, Brazil, shaped by architect Gilda Meirelles for a couple and their children. The project extends across a sloped site in the countryside, using staggered levels to draw daily life toward the surrounding landscape. Social rooms, outdoor decks, and calm interiors work in concert, turning the house into a long-term retreat rather than a short weekend escape.
Morning light reaches the upper terrace first, catching stone, wood, and water in a soft glare before slipping into the deeper rooms below. From the entry, the house steps down with the land, every level turned toward the countryside and the trees that edge the horizon.
This single-family house in São Paulo’s countryside is conceived as a retreat for a couple and their children, yet it is organized for everyday permanence. Gilda Meirelles arranges the program along terraced platforms, using the slope to separate quieter private rooms from generous social areas. The throughline is clear: domestic life orbits around views, breezes, and the ease of moving between interior and exterior settings.
Terraced House On The Slope
The residence occupies a site with a 12-meter height difference, and the plan leans into that topography rather than carving it away. Staggered levels distribute bedrooms, social rooms, and leisure decks, so each tier holds a direct connection to planted ground or open air. This terraced configuration reduces earth movement and gives every main room a distinct outlook toward the surrounding greenery. Privacy grows as one steps down or up, while cross-ventilation slips through the stacked volumes.
Social Rooms In Sequence
At the heart of the house, social environments unfold in a fluid run rather than as isolated rooms. Living room, dining area, and outdoor leisure zones sit in close proximity, their boundaries defined more by ceiling height, orientation, and furniture than by solid walls. Large openings slide aside to frame the countryside, turning the central level into a continuous living field that adapts to family meals, parties, or quiet evenings. The absence of abrupt thresholds keeps movement easy, encouraging children and adults to drift between interior comfort and open terraces.
Water As Daily Threshold
A jacuzzi, conceived as a reflective water surface, becomes the hinge between the main terrace and the barbecue area. In daily use, this sheet of water reads as both leisure element and calm pause, catching sky and foliage while separating two active zones. The terrace can work as an independent deck for quiet sunbathing, or it can merge with the barbecue level when gatherings expand. Water softens the transition, so circulation feels relaxed even when the house is full of guests.
Materials Shaping Everyday Comfort
Material choices speak directly to how the family inhabits the house, favoring comfort, durability, and a close bond with nature. Stone and wood ground the terraces and principal rooms, while neutral finishes keep the atmosphere calm and allow light to register gently on surfaces. Large glazed planes bring daylight deep into the interior, supporting cross-ventilation that keeps rooms fresh without heavy mechanical reliance. The same studio handles the interiors, carrying warmth, simplicity, and visual continuity from façade to furniture, so routines flow without abrupt shifts in tone.
Living Between Openness And Retreat
More than a weekend house, the residence is calibrated for long-term living, where workdays, school routines, and downtime share the same architectural frame. Open social levels encourage shared activity, yet the terraced organization and planted surroundings allow quiet withdrawal when family members need solitude. Everyday life moves between architecture and landscape, between outdoor meals and interior reading corners, always with a view outward to the countryside. The result is a calm household rhythm anchored by material honesty and a measured sense of quiet sophistication.
As evening settles, the staggered volumes glow at different heights, tying the house back to the slope rather than to a single grand gesture. Light, water, and greenery keep reshaping the rooms through the day, so the retreat remains in step with the landscape that first defined it.
Photography by Pedro Mascaro
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