An ecological club : this was the request made by the clients when they called architect
Rafael Mirza – from
CASACOR Rio de Janeiro – to build this house in Itaipava, a mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro. The residents acquired three terraces: the main one with 1200 m² and two more for auxiliary buildings. “We were called to build from scratch. The project itself took about two months and the construction, from the foundation to the finishing of the decoration, took 1 year and 5 months”, says the architect.
The house was built completely integrated : from the inside it is possible to access the gourmet area and the pool – there is a passage in the sauna that connects the interior with the pool, keeping the water heated.
The first floor is fully integrated: the living and dining
rooms ,
kitchen and wine cellar are connected physically and aesthetically, as all the rooms have the same wooden floor and ceiling, creating a greater sense of coziness. In addition, the entire façade is glazed, creating a link between the indoor and outdoor spaces, with views of the large swimming pool.
“Also on the first floor, we created an office, a toilet, a service area and two additional
suites . On the second floor, we created two staircases: the main one is part of the decoration, with double-height ceilings, the second one starts from the gourmet area and provides closer access to the master suite, allowing circulation to both ends of the house”, explains Rafael.
The house, built where the plateau was wider, was designed as a large block, with the entrance on the side and the main façade facing forward. On the other side, there is a vertical block. “To highlight the difference between the two blocks, we created a straight upper slab and, in the middle, in the most horizontal part, we created a curved slab, which is also noticeable from the inside,” explains Mirza.
“As we could not find a cement coating available on the market in the form we specified, our solution was to create the facade coating on site. We made wooden forms, mixed the concrete and applied it to the wall, creating a more natural result and a coating proportional to the size of the house,” he says.
To make the house an ecological construction, some technologies were used, such as:
reusing rainwater, solar panels and a hot water belt. 
