bloco arquitetos utilizes exiting concrete frame to renovate and extend 'casa grid' in brasília

bloco arquitetos has renovated and extended a residential property in brazil, adding brick surfaces and two steel pavilions. located close to brasília’s city center in a neighborhood called lago sul, the plot’s previously existing house was surrounded by an exposed concrete grid. this element now serves as the structure for the extension and gives ‘casa grid’ its name. ‘the previous owner of the land had planned to build a much bigger house, 350 square meters and two stories high,’ say the architects. ‘instead, due to funding problems, he decided to build all the foundations of the house and only use it partially in a 150 sqm, one story construction.’ however the house was sold before the expansion plan went ahead.

all images by haruo mikami

located in a neighborhood where houses are often knocked down for new designs, bloco arquitetos decided to take advantage of the existing structure and re-use part of its walls. as the area that was occupied by the original construction was not enough to fit the new program, a new concrete grid was created. however, due to the lack of regularity in the existing foundations, columns, and beams, the new grid follows an ‘imaginary’ pattern of growth based on the irregularity of the original structure. it sits on both existing and new foundations and uses columns with two different sections: 40x40cm and 40x15cm.

‘the new grid works as a graft, connecting old walls and new ones and supporting the additional program of the extension,’ explains the design team. ‘brick surfaces with different types of openings were placed according to necessities of solar protection and privacy. the strategy resembles the one used in the oscar americano house by the brazilian modernist architect oswaldo bratke (1907-1997). two steel structure pavilions were added to house additional services such as a garage, an outdoor kitchen, and a sauna.’ see more projects by bloco arquitetos on designboom here.

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project info:

name: casa grid
location: brasília, brazil
area: 410 sqm / 4,413 sqf
authors: bloco arquitetos – daniel mangabeira, henrique coutinho and matheus seco

collaboration: tatiana lopes, victor machado, and guilherme mahana
construction (contractor): vítor odísio engenharia
photography: haruo mikami