About

From outside, the building appears as an entirely solid concrete mass, punctuated on one side by a pair of openings containing sturdy wooden doors. One set of doors opens outwards to provide access to the garden-garage, while the other pivots on its central axis to form the main entrance.

Godefroy arranged the house to provide the residents with privacy, he inverted the traditional arrangement of a property, moving the backyard pool-garden to the front to act as a buffer to the street and the kitchen, living room and bedrooms towards the back.

The garden leads to a bridge across the pool courtyard flanked on either side by steps that ascend onto the building's roof. Beyond the pool there's a covered patio that spans the width of the house and accommodates the main living area. A kitchen is situated at one end. The open-air space to the rear of the building accommodates a large, low table made from a section of a tree trunk "Parota" (Enterolobium Cyclocarpum) providing the focal point of the communal space. Roller shades can be used to close off the living area, or retracted to open it up to the pool.

There are two bedrooms and two full bathrooms, the master bedroom is located upstairs and the guest bedroom on the main floor, next to the open-air living spaces.

The board-marked concrete used for the building's structure is left exposed both externally and internally throughout the house. Carefully placed openings in the walls and roofs of the various rooms enable daylight to wash across these textured surfaces. The only other material present is the wood used for the doors and louvred screens.

"Made of massive materials which do not require special treatments or maintenance, accepting ageing and time as part of the architecture process, the house has been conceptualized to end up one day covered by a new coat of materiality: a layer of tropical breeze."