Casa Guapuruvus: a modern and sustainable cabin in the forest for family life, designed by Pedro Cornetta

Deep in the forests of São Roque, in the state of São Paulo, Pedro Cornetta and his studio have conceived Casa Guapuruvus as an ambitious laboratory of ecological practices in architecture, engineering and landscape design. The aim of the project was to bring adventure into family life, fostering a deep connection with nature, especially for children, within a modern cabin in the woods where parents can share weekends with their daughters.

The native forest plot was touched with a minimal gesture: more than 70% of its surface remains intact, preserved as a living memory of the place. To define the construction area, the architects chose a zone with less vegetation, already altered beforehand, reducing the impact on the forest mass.

The starting point was to adapt the house to the topography. A service level was “embedded” in the slope of the terrain, while the main volume rises above, as if floating among the treetops. This strategy not only minimizes ground contact but also protects the roots and allows the surrounding vegetation to remain alive.

Two construction times: traditional and prefabricated

The design of the project was divided into two distinct phases. The first, underground: retaining walls, technical areas (laundry, storage), solarium and swimming pool. Traditional techniques were used —structural block masonry, stone, exposed concrete— to ensure solidity and thermal inertia.

The second, upper phase, the main dwelling: a light envelope built through prefabricated and assembled systems—glulam beams, nail-laminated timber (NLT) slabs, and a load-bearing steel frame. Both the interior and exterior walls employ lightweight metal frame construction.

This duality—heavy and light, concrete and wood, buried and elevated—creates a narrative in which the house engages in dialogue with the landscape: the firm base, rooted in the earth; the suspended body, emerging within the arboreal twilight.

Spaces for gathering and contemplation

The programme of the house was conceived for a family to live in close intimacy with nature. Floor-to-ceiling windows, sliding doors, open terraces: every detail acts as a bridge between the interior and the forest.

Walking through the main floor gives the feeling of entering a domestic forest, with birdsong and the murmur of the wind as constant companions. On the lower, hidden floor, daily operations unfold without disturbing the elevated dwelling’s atmosphere.

Landscape design was conceived as an essential part of the project. After construction, efforts focused on restoring the native forest around the house: reintroducing species, reorganising altered vegetation, achieving the full integration of the house within its setting.

A poetics of sustainability

Far from being an ostentatious ecological manifesto, Casa Guapuruvus is a gesture born of the conviction that sustainability in architecture arises from a subtle harmony between the technical and the sensitive. Prefabrication here is not merely a construction strategy but part of the project’s aim: to ensure that the house converses with the forest in a profound embrace with the nature that shelters it.

The upper floor is conceived not just as a structural resource, but as a way of raising one’s gaze, of celebrating daily life among the treetops. Traditional techniques intertwine with modern systems, each contributing on its own scale: weight, inertia, warmth, efficiency of assembly.

This project—as Cornetta and his team define it—is a laboratory where every material, every line, every space is subject to testing and reflection. Family life becomes a field of experimentation, with architecture as an ally of nature.

Suppliers

Charred pine: Solid House. Carpentry: Design Layout. Pool stones (limestone): Calcare. Kitchen countertop: Donata.

Furniture: Líder Interiores (dining chairs, coat stand). Wooden armchair at chess table: Fernando Jaeger. Leather armchair: Emmet, by Massimo. Wooden armchair on balcony: Onda armchair, by Régis Padilha, TuoCasa. Outdoor chaise longue: Jardim Concept. Fireplace: Metávila. Lamps: Stella, Reka.

Project: Casa Guapuruvus.
Location: São Roque Estado (São Paulo).
Built area: 212 m².
Completion: 2023.
Architecture team: Pedro Cornetta (arquiteto líder), Renan Antiqueira, Luigi Borges Campos.
Landscape: Nik Sabey.
Wood structure: Rewood.
Hydrosanitary and electrical engineering: Latar Engenharia.
Contractor: Pedro Neto de Queiroz Lima.
Photography: Pedro Kok.

Pedro Cornetta

Pedro Cornetta is a brazilian architect and founder of Cornetta Arquitetura, a practice based in Sertãozinho, in the state of São Paulo. His work focuses on high-quality residential housing, with particular attention to industrialized construction and sustainability applied to architectural practice.

Educated at the Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (USP), Cornetta began his professional career in the early 2000s and has led his own studio since 2009. His approach is defined by the integration of architecture, engineering, and design, aiming to optimize processes and reduce the environmental impact of construction.
Read full biography.

Project by Pedro Cornetta