Claudia Haguiara’s Casa Clube de Golfe (Golf Club House) house is located inside the confines of a golf club, which prohibits the addition of any new residences on the grounds. Casa Clube replaced its condemned predecessor. Building codes within the Club required that the new build maintain the original house’s footprint.

The house hovers suspended above a green carpet, amidst the trees which surround it and configure a space for living. Lot boundaries seem non-existent. The house itself, designed to fit the needs of a couple who work from home, is distributed along one single floor elevated 40 cm above the ground to isolate it from the extremely humid soil. The raised elevation facilitated the installation of plumbing systems without disturbing the site. The one-piece thermo-acoustic trapezoidal rooftop and the apparent structural steel frame collaborate to give the house an industrial appearance. The continuous window, supported by the metal beam, makes the rooftop seem detached from the house, allowing light and air to enter the house while tying the entire house perimeter with the external area, sealed here with glass, or there with wooden brises. The prolific windows also allow natural ventilation and excellent cross ventilation, greatly reducing the need for mechanical supplementation.

A key advantage of the design is its ease and rapidity of construction, almost like a shed. The fact that it hovers over the ground eliminated the need to excavate land in order to lay the foundation, and the light weight steel design provided a clean construction site with little residue.

The large roof gables enable the house to remain open in the summer, even during a hard rain. The “mattress” of air between the flagstone and the roof keep the temperature pleasant.

Said architect Claudia Haguiara, “We did not use innovative techniques, but we looked to apply the correct form of existing construction techniques, with the aim of developing a project with easy construction and maintenance.”

Casa Clube de Golfe received the Asbea Award for Merit from the Associação Brasileira de Escritórios de Arquitetura in 2008.

Key information

Number of storeys	1
Living area (m2)	150
New-build home

Location of Steel solutions

Roof
Structure
Terrace
External Wall
Floor
Walls
Cladding
Light Steel Sections
Water Systems

Type of steel used in the building

Long Carbon Steel