OM House by Guilherme Torres

Location: Londrina, Paraná, Brazil
Year: 2009
Area: 2,690 sqft
Photo courtesy: MCA Studio
Description:

Guilherme Torres, a young Brazilian architect, was hired by an elderly couple to design a contemporary house in a residential condominium in Londrina, Brazil. The clients requested a house which would be suitable for a couple to live on regular basis as well as big enough to host their whole family at the weekends.

The architect offered them a plan consisting of two big blocks perpendicularly crossed in a 400m2 area. The construction itself comprises of a vast living area, a block containing 3 bedrooms and a discrete laundry area. The living-room is well-supplied with natural light overlooking the swimming-pool. The pool has a 16m swimming lane coated with black glass chips readily made for the owner’s daily swim.

The project uses few coating materials, which can be easily found in the region. The rusty texture on the brick walls was done directly on the plaster. The house floors as well as some walls are a mix of cement planks and wood rulers. The French windows in the bedrooms were built in wood by local handicraftsmen, a more economical and sustainable alternative rather than the use of synthetic materials.