Casa Ecológica Campeche by Affonso Orciuoli + Marcelo Leal, arquitetos

"EcoHouse is a small house located on a plot very close to Campeche beach, on the island of Florianopolis, Brazil. It seeks to minimize the impact of construction, both in terms of interference with the landscape and the materials used. Except for the foundations (reinforced concrete), the entire house was built with autoclaved treated pine wood, and some walls were clad with plasterboard. The carpentry is aluminum, with mosquito screens, promoting cross-ventilation.

Another important aspect was building the smallest possible house to free up land for the garden. It has a living room with a home office space, dining room, and kitchen—all in one integrated area. This space opens onto a balcony and a deck that connects the house with the outside. The goal was to create a certain "confusion," where you don't know if you are inside or outside the house, or inside or outside the property. We believe in a continuous, integrated space. The bathroom is on the ground floor, and the bedroom, also without doors, is on the upper floor.

The timber frame construction process allowed for a lightweight yet high-quality build with excellent thermal and acoustic comfort. We used "rock wool" as insulation. When studying the best solution for rainwater, we noticed a tendency for people to cement the ground, which causes flooding because the soil cannot absorb the rain. Flooding is typical in Floripa on rainy days. So, we created a 40 cm layer with construction debris, which was practically free. When it rains, this "mattress" absorbs the rainwater, creating a natural drainage system that allows the earth to "dialogue" with the high-water table due to the proximity of the beach.

The house has a green roof and a large tropical garden on the ground. From above, what you see is a large green spot. Therefore, we do not interfere with the natural process of the rainwater cycle.

As a concept, the main idea is to minimize the boundary between being inside and outside. The house opens to the garden and the street, contrary to the trend of high walls with security systems. It aims to be as transparent as possible and to establish a dialogue with the neighborhood. This is the only way to build a city.

In terms of project development, we chose to use Rhino and VisualARQ. We were obsessed with having exhaustive control over all the materials used to generate the minimum amount of waste. In this sense, the material lists that VisualARQ generated were fundamental. VisualARQ also helped define the construction steps. We were able to complete the construction in 2 months with 3 people on-site.

EcoHouse aims to be an alternative for sustainable construction, rationalizing the materials used and the speed of execution. At the same time, it re-evaluates the amount of space a home needs. In its natural life cycle, it can be easily expanded, with the goal of reusing its materials."

Affonso Orciuoli + Marcelo Leal, arquitetos

Complete details (in Portuguese)...