How FGMF Designed a House That Feels Like a Garden | Full Tour & Interview

Located in São Paulo, Brazil, "Casa da Rua Escócia" explores the idea of living within a garden rather than simply beside one.

Designed by FGMF Arquitetos, the 590-square-meter residence is built upon a simple yet ambitious premise: to preserve as much open ground as possible, allowing architecture and landscape to merge into a single, continuous experience. Positioned along the side and rear boundaries of the lot, the house liberates a generous green area that becomes the true center of the project, dissolving the boundaries between interior and exterior space.

In this film, we are joined by the architects of FGMF, who take us inside the design process behind the house, sharing the ideas, challenges, and architectural strategies that shaped the project. Through an in-depth conversation and a complete tour of the residence, we explore how circulation, materiality, structure, landscape, and natural light were carefully orchestrated to create a seamless relationship between house and garden.

A monumental concrete wall acts simultaneously as structure, enclosure, and finish, organizing the entire composition. Along this wall, an elevated linear walkway connects the private rooms while overlooking a double-height living space, reinforcing the sense of continuity that defines the project.

The ground floor is conceived as an open landscape where architecture recedes and nature takes center stage. Gardens, terraces, living spaces, and circulation paths are experienced as part of a single flowing environment—alternately open and enclosed, shaded and sunlit—yet always connected.

Materiality plays a fundamental role in shaping the atmosphere of the house. A robust cast-in-place concrete base anchors the residence to the site, while lighter timber-clad volumes appear to float above it. Finished with Lunawood, a thermally modified timber designed to weather naturally over time, these volumes acquire a silver-grey patina that enhances both durability and character.

Landscape architect Rodrigo Oliveira collaborated closely with the architectural team to strengthen the dialogue between built form and nature, creating a setting in which the house feels as though it emerged organically from the site itself.

The fragmented arrangement of the upper-level bedroom volumes allows daylight, ventilation, and carefully framed views to penetrate deep into the residence. Narrow openings and strategic visual connections generate constantly changing spatial experiences, while the eastern orientation captures soft morning light that transforms the architecture throughout the day.

More than a house tour, this film offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from the architects about the thinking behind one of FGMF's most refined residential projects. Through their insights, we discover how structure, landscape, light, and materiality come together to create a home that feels both precise and deeply connected to nature.

Project: Casa da Rua Escócia
Architecture: FGMF Architects
Landscape Design: Rodrigo Oliveira
Film by: Architecture Hunter
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
Cover Image courtesy of FGMF

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