Designed by: @grupo.crbn

Captured by: @grupo.crbn

Casa Planalto was shaped by a contradiction: the plot faces south toward the street, while its best light, views and privacy are found at the rear. The project turns this condition into an opportunity to rethink how a linear ground floor can be inhabited. The main challenge was to open the house towards its most favourable side without compromising functional efficiency or structural clarity. The response is a continuous slab punctured by patios, allowing each space to receive natural light and maintain a direct relationship with the surrounding vegetation.

The house is organised around a longitudinal spine that resolves circulation while mediating between public and private areas. The bedrooms are arranged along one side, oriented towards the rear to benefit from the best orientation, while the social areas unfold towards the gallery and pool. This creates a sequence of spaces that extends naturally into the garden. In contrast, the front façade is defined by opacity and restraint, limiting exposure to the street and reinforcing the sense of refuge.

Another challenge was preventing the 360-square-metre single-storey house from feeling heavy or excessively elongated. Strategically positioned patios break down the volume, introduce pauses and allow light to penetrate the slab, creating an architecture that feels lighter and almost suspended. Concrete, wood and stone reinforce this approach through a restrained material palette focused on texture, shadow and permanence. Rather than seeking attention, the house reveals itself through its voids and its relationship with the landscape.

Casa Planalto ultimately works through a series of precise decisions, each responding to a site condition, a programmatic need or a spatial intention. The architecture establishes a balance between light, privacy, scale and material, without relying on unnecessary gestures. Its defining quality lies in transforming a constraint into an identity: a house that opens towards where it wants to live while protecting itself where it needs to retreat.