Truss House, Brazil / Terra Capobianco + Galeria Arquitetos

Project: Truss House
Architects: Galeria Arquitetos, Terra Capobianco
Architects In Charge: Ana Terra Capobianco e Fernanda Neiva
Project Team: André Braz, Liliane Nambu e Lucas Leite
Construction: Schwartz Engenharia
Landscape Design: Giardino Planejamento de Exteriores
Location: Alto de Pinheiros, Brazil
Area: 464 m²
Year: 2020
Photo credits: Nelson Kon

The architectural firms Terra Capobianco and Galeria Arquitetos are responsible for the Casa Treliça (Truss House) project, a 464 m² building in the Alto de Pinheiros district, São Paulo. Through the rationality of the construction systems, the architecture sought to produce a large space totally integrated into the landscape around the 533.35 m² lot.

The implantation of the residence is based on a program of needs to take maximum advantage of the land occupation. The intention was to solve, with few elements, a fast and dry construction, in metallic structure, steel deck slab, and steel frame closing. For this, three metallic trusses were projected: two at the longitudinal ends of the main volume, allowing a 15-meter span, free of supports, in the social area; and the third one in the transversal direction of the total land width, configuring the suspended volume of the shed, with 14 meters of free span.

The visual use of the lot is uninterrupted. Less than 1/5 of the first-floor area has opaque fences, which produces a sense of spaciousness – further enhanced by the 3-meter-high ceiling. Thus, the living and dining rooms can be completely opened with sliding glass panels, allowing full integration with the veranda, pool, and garden. A path designed with molded-in-place concrete treads runs through the garden to the leisure area, with a sauna and barbecue grill located under the trellis of the stables.

Positioned in the ground floor social area, a metal staircase leads to the first floor, where the trellis is revealed in the backlight of the translucent thermoclick material (polycarbonate sheeting). A common room distributes among the four suites. Two of them were designed in a flexible way, initially serving the resident couple, with two bathrooms, two closets, a bedroom, and an intimate room. The first floor of the edicula houses the fitness room and the guest suite.

The bedrooms face east and west and have vertical slatted shutters made of autoclaved and carbonized pine, a material that guarantees durability. On the north façade, the thermoclick guarantees thermal resistance, besides the agility of assembly with a self-supporting panel of tongue and groove. The four faces delimit a single rectangular volume of double façade, dismountable and efficient.

The constructive solutions, along with other aspects of the project, ensured that Casa Treliça was awarded the Silver certificate by the Green Building Council Brasil, a national reference in sustainable construction. The residence is equipped with photovoltaic panels, installed on the main block and the shed, in addition to a water tank filled with reuse water, intended exclusively for toilets. The house also has automated rainwater irrigation for the garden.