Set on a gently sloping lakeside site in Lagoa Santa, Tangram House compresses its street presence to a quiet horizontal line while opening its length and outlook to water, trees, and lawn. A triangular, glued-laminated timber roof organizes the project as a deep shelter, working with exposed concrete and stone retaining walls to articulate a sectional gradient from street-side privacy to lakeside exposure. Social functions occupy the lower level, in continuity with the verandas and pool. At the same time, the upper-level bedrooms sit under broad eaves, lit by skylights that modulate daylight and temper heat gain.
Tangram House Technical Information
- Architects: TETRO
- Location: Lagoa Santa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
- Gross Area: 1450 m2 | 15,607 Sq. Ft.
- Project Years: 2025
- Photographs: © Manuel Sá
Between the precise drawing of the structure and the softness of the landscape, Tangram House seeks to be less an object and more a passage, shielding itself from the street in order to open fully to the lake and vegetation.
– TETRO Architecture
Siting as Horizon: Screening the Street, Opening to the Lake
Placed at the high point of the plot, the house presents a restrained silhouette to the public realm. Low retaining walls, earth berms, and the thickness of the built volume collect into a continuous screen, removing the street from the interior visual field. The effect is immediate upon entry. Views compress toward the ground plane and then release toward the lake, constructing a calibrated sequence from enclosure to prospect.
This siting strategy produces a clear privacy gradient. The street side reads as an opaque edge that absorbs topographic shifts and infrastructure, while the lakeside is given over to glazing and verandas that register light and breeze. The building line continues the topographic contour, and the roof’s horizon-level datum reinforces a stable vantage point across the water. Landscape and architecture collaborate to edit the view rather than frame it as a single scene, leaving daily occupation to unfold along a long lakeside trajectory.
Tangram Roof: Triangular Geometry and Mixed Timber–Concrete System
A sequence of triangular planes in glued-laminated timber forms a single unifying roof. The geometry tightens toward the street, where the roof drops and thickens to protect privacy, and opens toward the lake, where broad overhangs extend the interior outward. The triangulation resolves spans and directs water, while the shifting soffit heights introduce spatial variety without breaking continuity.
The structure is hybrid. Timber roof elements and verandas rest on exposed concrete slabs and walls that stabilize the assembly and anchor the building to the slope. Stone retaining walls complete the triad, taking on lateral earth pressures and defining plateaus. The material dialogue is legible: timber expresses lightness and continuity of shelter; concrete and stone register load, earth, and thermal inertia. Skylights cut through the timber planes to deliver top light precisely to living areas and upper circulation, ensuring that daylight is driven by section rather than perimeter glass alone. Deep eaves and the articulated geometry cast durable shade and control glare, aligning tectonics with climate.
Sectional Organization: Inhabited Retaining Wall and Programmatic Gradient
The lower level gathers social functions along the lakeside. Large glass panes slide behind generous verandas, so rooms operate in tandem with exterior platforms and the pool. The plan reads as a banded arrangement in which interior programs and exterior terraces share a single depth, allowing furniture, movement, and views to migrate across thresholds without abrupt transitions.
At the back of this level, the retaining wall thickens to absorb support spaces. A secondary kitchen, bathroom, and cellar are set within this inhabited wall, turning a structural necessity into a spatial resource. This thickness stabilizes temperature for storage and forms an acoustic and visual buffer to the street. Above, private areas are consolidated under the wide eave. A family room and five bedrooms sit slightly set back from the lakeside line, maintaining long views while keeping distance from public approach. The roof’s reach and the setback produce shade, privacy, and a measured aperture to the landscape, reinforcing the project’s sectional hierarchy.
Environmental Mediation: Daylight, Microclimate, and Landscape Continuity
Top lighting from skylights creates varied atmospheres across the plan, from luminous circulation to soft, indirect light in living spaces. Because daylight is introduced from above, perimeter glazing can be sized to calibrate view and ventilation rather than purely to chase illumination, reducing glare and balancing interior contrast.
Deep overhangs moderate solar gain and protect openings during seasonal shifts, while the orientation aligns principal rooms with breezes and the lake’s reflected light. The pool reads as a deliberate extension of the lake surface, tightening the visual field and amplifying sky brightness into the verandas. In combination with thermal mass in concrete and stone, the shaded verandas and operable openings support passive comfort, allowing domestic life to embed within the immediate landscape without sacrificing environmental control.
About TETRO
Founded in Brazil, TETRO is an architecture studio based in Belo Horizonte since its establishment. The office focuses on projects that engage deeply with their natural context, employing bold structural expression and material authenticity to create inclusive, responsive, and environmentally integrated architecture. With a thoughtful approach to terrain, light, and programmatic layering, TETRO produces designs that balance precision and openness.
Credits and Additional Notes
- Architects: Carlos Maia, Débora Mendes, Igor Macedo
- Structural engineers: MV Projetos
- MEP consultants: Rafael Cardoso
- Landscape designers: Flávia D’urso
- Client: TSV Engenharia
- Construction company: TSV Engenharia
- Wooden Structure: Timbau Estruturas
- Lighting Design: Iluminar
- Windows and Glasses: Júnior Mesquita Esquadrias
- Cladding and Finishes: GMZ Mármores e Granitos
- Woodwork: Júnior (Casttini)
- Pools Installation: SolViver
- Automation: Control Automação
- Furniture: São Romão, Jader Almeida
