Brazilian architecture firm Studio MK27 has completed a narrow wooden house that touches the ground of a valley with minimum footprint. 

Named Catuçaba House, it is located over the valley of Catuçaba, Brazil, at an altitude of 1,500 meters above sea level. The elongated house is raised over slender stilts over the valley and offers a beautiful view towards the lush vegetation. 

The house was designed as an energy-efficient residence to set its own autonomy by benefiting from the local sources and to create a strong relationship with the local nature, abundant throughout most of the year. 

"The main premise of the project is to make energy consumption efficient while simultaneously offer comfort to the user, beginning with the simplicity of contact with the local nature," said Studio MK27.

The house was built as a FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) wooden pre-fab structure but the building is supported on the land through some slender pillars, without directly touching the ground, responding well to the necessity of building on a rugged piece of land, far from the city and difficult access. 

The architects created a deck, made of certified wood, as an external ground and the internal floor is built from a clay brick - made from the local soil. 

"The divisors of the house are wood frames with woollen installation of PET which makes it an environmentally correct house. Frames with double windows guarantee the comfort and ventilation," added the studio.

The roof of the house functions as a wooden platform with vegetation which integrates the house with its surroundings rue composing the area of the land shaded by it. In the vast landscape, the house create a link between that which is built and that which is natural. 

Studio MK27 recently expanded Gama Issa House in São Paulo. Studio MK27 also completed the Planar House with extended green roof outside of São Paulo. To see more projects, visit WAC's Brazil Country Page.

Project facts

Architect: Studio MK27 / Marcio Kogan 

Co-architect: Lair Reis

Location: Catuçaba, São Paulo, Brazil

Team: Flavia Maritan, Mariana Simas, Oswaldo Pessano

All images © Fernando Guerra

> via Studio MK27