蜂巢之家丨巴西圣保罗丨Sabella Arquitetura

A gridded timber roof shelters the interiors and external terraces of Casa Colmeia, a low-lying home outside São Paolo designed by local studio Sabella Arquitetura.

Located on a sloping wooded site in Porto Feliz, the 1,600-square-metre home is organised across two wide levels that open out onto a series of tropical gardens designed with landscape designer Treliz Paisagismo.

This planting helps to shade Casa Colmeia's largely glazed exterior, along with folding shutters, external blinds and the deep overhang of the upper level's gridded timber roof.

Sabella Arquitetura has created a low-lying home outside São Paolo

"The design of Casa Colmeia emerged from the challenge of its site – a trapezoidal plot with a slope and a privileged view facing south, which is not the most favourable orientation for habitation," Sabella Arquitetura told Dezeen.

"The strategy was to position the house on the higher level of the terrain, organising it in an L-shape to establish a strong horizontal front facing this view," it added.

"This gesture allowed us to structure the house as a kind of 'grounded' volume within a sloping site, while also dividing the terrain into two distinct plateaus."

It has an L-shaped plan

Casa Colmeia is organised with an L-shaped plan, with a wing of bedrooms in the longer, south-facing wing of the upper level sitting perpendicular to a large living, dining and kitchen area to the east.

Two concrete volumes containing a fireplace, bathroom and wine storage demarcate the different zones of this large social space, which opens onto a swimming pool terrace.

The interiors open out onto a series of tropical gardens

Connecting these two wings is a corridor that passes between a pair of internal gardens, one of which sits next to the home's entrance and the other wrapped by a staircase leading down to the home's lower level.

"A key moment is the sequence of courtyards, particularly the central atrium, which brings diffused natural light into the living spaces, and the double-height space with the sculptural staircase," explained the studio.

"These elements not only organise the house but also shape the experience of moving through it," it added.

Uniting the upper level's interiors and terrace is a glued-laminated timber (glulam) roof structured around a 90-by-90-centimetre grid, with openings for skylights created above the internal courtyards.

A glued-laminated timber roof is a defining feature

The exposed timber of this roof is a defining feature of the interior, complemented by the thin steel columns that support it, as well as stone and wood floors, and areas of exposed concrete.

On the lower level of the home, additional guest suites and staff facilities sit alongside a games room, sauna, gym and technical spaces.

Steel columns support the gridded roof

Other homes recently completed in São Paolo include Grama House by Studio Arthur Casas, which features large roof overhangs and cantilevering volumes that shade its outdoor spaces, and a beach house by Estúdio Rossi Arquitetos with a glued-laminated timber structure.

The photography is by Fran Parente.