Pavilhão Vista Alegre | Terra Capobianco

Located on the slopes of the Serrote mountains, the southernmost section of the Serra da Mantiqueira in the municipality of Socorro, São Paulo, Barreiro Farm had its space and purpose remodeled for coffee cultivation. The Pavilhão Vista Alegre (Vista Alegre Pavilion), signed by Terra Capobianco, was one of the spaces renovated with the intention of preserving the local history, becoming a meeting point between the old and the new, and an area for visitors interested in coffee. 

The Farm 
The Barreiro Farm, previously focused on horse breeding and later undergoing degradation by leasing pastures for cattle breeding, has its activity renewed, inserting itself in the context of the region's vocation: coffee production. 

The process of regeneration of the territory has been made with investments in production techniques that follow the criteria of organic and sustainable agriculture, and in the preservation of its water resources with native forest cover, expanded year after year, in partnership with NGOs specialized in forest regeneration. In the last two years, 40 thousand seedlings of native Atlantic Forest species were planted on the property, transforming the farm into a reference of organic and low carbon agriculture in the region.  

The set of buildings on the farm is being remodeled to house the new functions, which mix recreational family use with coffee production.   

   
The pavilion 
The regular and precise structure of the pavilion seeks to align itself with the pre-existing buildings of the horse stalls. The proposal does not oppose the scale of what already existed - on the contrary, the intervention is discreet and redefines the group of buildings with the creation of a courtyard, to where the horse stalls converge. 

The counterpoint to the existing technology is given by the new technology adopted for the construction, CLT - Cross Laminated Timber - guided mainly by sustainability issues. The raw material of CLT, originating from forest planting, is a carbon-neutral resource that generates a positive environmental impact. 

The structural conception for the building is based on the premise of constructive rationality, with the option for a prefabricated solution, which reduces the amount of work to be done on site, optimizing the global work deadline without generating residues.  

With an area of 170 m², the pavilion was erected in five days, using nine CLT slabs 8 cm thick, configuring a continuous covering plan with 7.45 m wide by 22 m long. The surface is supported by inverted metal beams unloaded onto CLT walls. 

The wooden structure is exposed on the inside, while on the outside the walls are clad with vertical slats of autoclaved and carbonized pine, ensuring the durability of the wood. The same coating was applied to the doors and windows of the stalls of the existing buildings, aiming to bring unity to the buildings.  

The pavilion has a pantry and a restroom, which divide the visiting room from the saddlery. To simplify the hydraulic installations, it was opted to build them in two masonry cores, also serving as a lock for the structure.  

In the saddlery, the harnesses are exposed on solid logs embedded in the CLT walls. Ventilation in this environment is crossed and permanent, and occurs between the slats of the facades, through which natural light also permeates.  

In the main lounge, a place to meet and rest for horseback riding, a large basalt bench serves as a support for tasting the coffee produced on the farm. The view from the salon overlooks the dams, in a contemplative visual relationship through the large window above the bench. The lateral facades of the pavilion open completely with sliding doors that are hidden between the CLT walls and the pine lining, allowing the integration on one side with the stall patio, and on the other side with the farm's surroundings. 
 
DATA SHEET 
Project name: Pavilhão Vista Alegre 
Authors: Terra Capobianco  
Lead Architect: Ana Terra Capobianco 
Collaborative Architects: André Braz and Lucas Leite 
Year of project completion: 2020 
Gross floor area: 120 m² 
Location: Socorro – São Paulo, SP 
 
Photos: Nelson Kon  

Civil Construction: Quatri Arquitetura, Construção e Consultoria 
CLT Construction and Design: Crosslam 
Manufacturers: Alwitra, Crosslam, GRAPHISOFT, Marcenaria Silveira e REKA