Pedra Azul House by Escala Arquitetura

Pedra Azul House is a 1300 m² family home in Araras, Brazil, designed by Escala Arquitetura under lead architects Carolina Escada and Patricia Landau. The brief was built on a close, everyday contact with nature, and the shape of the land decided much of what followed.

The plot is narrow and drops steeply. Rather than forcing one large volume onto it, the architects broke the programme into separate modules and linked them with wide circulation spaces. The pieces stay low and long, stepping with the ground instead of fighting it, so the house reads as a chain of horizontal blocks resting on the hillside.

A house in pieces

Splitting the house this way does two things at once. It lets each block find its own level on the slope, and it keeps the overall mass broken down so that, from a distance, the buildings sit within the forest rather than on top of it. The photographs show long wings with timber roofs, stone walls and bands of glass, set among lawns, paths of flat stones and dense tropical planting, with granite peaks rising behind.

The connecting zones are generous. They are not corridors squeezed between rooms but wide covered galleries and verandas that tie the modules together and double as places to sit outside. For the thinking behind designs that keep people close to planting, light and views, see our article on biophilic design principles.

Glass that disappears

Open space is the priority throughout. Large glazed openings are fitted with frames that slide fully out of the way, so when they are open the line between inside and outside all but vanishes. Each module behaves like a cell: it can be thrown open to the landscape or shut down for privacy. Opened in sequence, the modules form one continuous run of galleries and covered terraces.

Inside, the images show living rooms under warm timber ceilings, walls of rough stone, a kitchen in natural wood with a window onto the trees, and bedrooms facing straight into the forest through floor to ceiling glass.

Structure as the architecture

The architects describe a structure that is clear enough to let the materials speak without extra decoration. In this house the frame is not hidden behind finishes; it is the architecture. The repeated module is what made the project affordable and buildable, and it also sets the rhythm of the facades.

The same grid controls the light. Where the structural frame extends beyond the walls, it forms broad eaves, and these overhangs keep direct sun off the glass so that the rooms receive soft, indirect daylight at all times. Deep timber soffits are visible over the terraces and garden paths in several of the photographs.

Retreat in the forest

Among the rooms is a quiet white space with low stone benches, tall timber frames looking out to the trees and a large timber cross reflected in a still pool of water. It is the calmest point in a house that otherwise opens itself fully to the landscape. For another Brazilian house that gives priority to light and planting, see BF2 House by Peninsula Arquitetura.