YPY

The existing leisure area on the north coast of São Paulo consisted of a multi-sport court and tennis court, next to a game room located in a former warehouse, previously used as a construction site during the condominium's construction. At the time, the warehouse was adapted with changing rooms and a bar to accommodate the courts and the condominium's common pool. The owners' brief was to make the area more humane by proposing common areas for residents, as the old building did not provide adequate conditions for long stays, and was used primarily by children. The main approach adopted was to utilize all the existing structure and materials, seeking to minimize environmental impacts and maximize passive solutions, making the area self-sufficient, and aiming to reduce costs associated with demolition, new construction, and direct impacts on new developments. The old roof, previously intended to protect construction equipment and workshops, did not meet the needs of the space's new use as a common area because lighting and ventilation were impaired. The proposed new roof required careful planning to accommodate the new use and justify the costly replacement. To reduce the weight and, consequently, material costs for the new roof structure, the Alwitra-type sheet roofing system was adopted, covering exposed OSB panels under the lining. The new roof's watershed layout was designed to optimize ventilation and lighting, taking into account the surrounding climate variations. Built parallel to the seashore, the structure provided easy access to local climate variations. During the day, as temperatures rise, the sun, which heats the land faster than the seawater, creates negative pressure on the continent, causing wind to blow from the sea to the land (marau). A larger air intake was therefore designed on this side of the building, created by the slope of the roof's watershed and the frames with upper openings, allowing this air to enter through the upper layer of the interior. Another air outlet on the other side of the roof allows the environment to be air-freshened. At night, the process reverses; seawater heated during the day retains heat longer than land, which cools faster. Negative pressure builds over the sea, causing the air mass to blow from land to sea (Terrau). Therefore, a smaller opening was planned on the other side of the building. Demolition of the existing clay tile roof in the previous project would have generated a considerable amount of debris, especially in this coastal region, where waste management is not as efficient. It was therefore proposed to use this material in the project. The walls of the proposed new spaces, which would previously have been made of brick, were made of concrete using the old crushed tiles as aggregate. No tile was wasted in the process, and all new walls were completed with this material. The sauna, also part of the program, was located on one side of the building with a glass opening for viewing the garden and pool area. The walls, built with crushed clay tile aggregate to match the existing pillar thickness (25 cm), also eliminated the need for thermal insulation. Optimizing the layout and circulation between spaces, we created indoor gardens covered only by pergolas, bringing not only greenery but also humidification into the building. Covered and unenclosed areas created intermediate living spaces between the pool solarium and the indoor game room and living room. The pool table area was also isolated so that its use could be separated from the noisy ping-pong and foosball tables. The roof structure, though old, was also fully utilized as the structure for the new deck and the proposed furniture. It was placed in the center of the complex, so that only air exchange would occur in the living room area, and the wind would be concentrated above the user's height. This second opening, combined with the white of the Alwitra covering, also creates an efficient natural light tray throughout the building. The new bathroom and locker area was equipped with a skylight with overhead lighting that, along with small openings in the masonry on the exterior, allows for air renewal through permanent ventilation. Taking advantage of the air heated by the skylight, the air rises, creating a constant flow from bottom to top, fed through the lower openings. To prevent animal entry, these openings were closed with the old wooden latticework that served as the ceiling of the previous building. The entire new roof has a single exposed water intake, to facilitate maintenance and also to serve as a fun resource for children who frequent the space. A large transparent hose connected to the new structure shows the flow of water to a semi-underground cistern. When the cistern is full, the hose itself indicates the water level through connecting vessels. Water is collected in the cistern for irrigation, cleaning the condominium's common areas, and flushing toilets in the locker rooms. The firm also designed some of the furniture with heavy use in mind for the various age groups who frequent the condominium. The project's lighting fixtures were also designed to be integral and easy to maintain. They designed fixtures that could be used in different ways and, with the same shape, could be inverted to meet both direct and indirect lighting needs, creating a unified design throughout.