Casa dos Cajueiros

Casa dos Cajueiros (Cashew Tree House), a project by Terra Capobianco and Galeria Arquitetos, does not immediately reveal itself to bathers at Praia Vermelha do Sul, in Ubatuba, on the coast of São Paulo, where it is located. Its implementation is discreet, with the front of the lot - 33 meters wide and 80 meters deep - occupied by crooked trunks and irregular branches, which shelter the house between light and shade from the cashew tree tops. The project took advantage of the gap between the treetops and kept the pre-existing species on the land.

The residence is implanted on four levels. The lowest level, close to the sea, concentrates the social, leisure, and service areas. The occupation of the house is ground level and structured from a clear circulation axis, which connects the social and intimate areas. On the same level, a volume was built next to the beach access, housing the sauna and the surfboard storage area.

The six suites are distributed along a 33-meter-long corridor and were implemented in a way to allow a gap between them and the creation of balconies that access private patios.
Pinkish-pigmented concrete gables define the bedroom modules, built in a mixed structure of glued laminated timber beams and wall paneling. The limit between inside and outside is provided by the Venetian skin in vertical slats, which provides visual permeability without interfering with the privacy of the suites.

The house structure mixes the conventional system in its base structure - with reinforced floor slab, and concrete pillars and gables - with the roof in laminated eucalyptus wood structure.
In the social area, 12 centimeters thick and 30-centimeter-wide wooden slabs, interlocked to form a large slab, span 7.30 meters plus 2.10 meters of overhang. In the transversal direction, an inverted beam, also made of wood, receives the load from the slabs and redistributes it on three slender metallic pillars. In the other direction, the result is a continuous space of 19 meters free of supports that opens 180 degrees to the surrounding landscape. Generous eaves protect the frames and provide shading for the interior spaces.

The project adopted several passive design strategies to ensure environmental comfort for users, starting with the abundant presence of floor-to-ceiling windows that ensure constant air renewal, cross ventilation and natural lighting.

DATA SHEET 
Project: Casa dos Cajueiros (Cashew Tree House) 
Authors: Terra Capobianco + Galeria Arquitetos  
Responsible architects: Ana Terra Capobianco e Fernanda Neiva 
Project team: Liliane Nambu 
Project Completion Year: 2019 
Gross constructed area: 792m2 
Location: Praia Vermelha do Sul – Ubatuba – São Paulo SP 
Photos: Nelson Kon  

Construction: Pitta Arquitetura e Engenharia 
Wood structure: Ita Construtora 
Calculation of concrete structure: Leão e Associados 
Concrete Consulting: Gabriel Regino 
Installation Project: Ramoska e Castelani 
Air conditioning design: Thermoplan 
Lighting design: Lux Projetos 
Landscaping: Giardino Planejamento de exteriores