Designing a residence with two separate living units on a single site requires careful spatial planning to give each unit privacy while maintaining a cohesive overall composition. Casa Flamboyant, designed by Patricia Almeida Arquitetura, demonstrates a single-level contemporary approach where two house units share a total land area of 2,125 square meters with a combined built area of 402.5 square meters. The project uses concrete, natural wood, and glass to create two distinct architectural personalities connected by a pool terrace and landscaped deck.
The Dual-Unit Concept
The Flamboyant House is a one-level home with two units that differ in character and aesthetic. The first design is very modern, featuring a pristine white and concrete exterior softened by a wooden front door. This unit includes distinctive concrete grids that provide a flow of light and ventilation while maintaining privacy from the adjacent unit and the street. If the first appears more restrained in its material expression, the second is warm and open, featuring oversized sliding glass doors that bring the inside outdoors. The second unit uses concrete as well, but accents it with natural wood elements including timber beams and vertical wood slat screens.
Why Choose a Dual-Unit Configuration
Dual-unit homes serve several practical purposes. They can accommodate multi-generational families where grandparents, adult children, or guests need separate quarters while staying on the same property. They also work as rental income properties where one unit is owner-occupied and the other is rented. In the case of Casa Flamboyant, the two units share a total site of 2,125 square meters, which is spacious enough for both to have private outdoor areas while connecting through a shared pool terrace.
Space Allocation Between Units
With a total built area of 402.5 square meters across both units, each unit averages roughly 200 square meters. This size range is appropriate for two- to three-bedroom homes with open-plan living areas. The covered porch and open deck are shared between units, while each unit has its own private entry, kitchen, and living spaces. The pool terrace serves as the primary connector between the two volumes, functioning as both a visual anchor and a social hub for gatherings.
| Feature | Unit 1 (Modern) | Unit 2 (Warm Organic) |
|---|---|---|
| Primary materials | White concrete, wooden front door | Concrete with natural wood accents |
| Privacy strategy | Concrete grids, white trims | Vertical wood slat screens |
| Outdoor connection | Covered porch | Oversized sliding glass doors |
| Light quality | Filtered through grids | Open, expansive through glass |
| Overall character | Restrained, minimalist | Warm, open, homey |
Concrete, Wood, and Glass: Material Palette
Concrete as the Structural Base
Both units use concrete as the primary structural material, but express it differently. In Unit 1, the concrete is left in its natural gray tone, forming clean box-like volumes with flat rooflines. A concrete walkway leads to the entrance, setting the material expectation from the approach. Stone base elements add texture at ground level. In Unit 2, concrete walls serve as the backdrop for warmer wood elements, with timber beams crossing the ceiling plane to add visual warmth and structure.
The concrete wall construction follows standard practices for tropical climates: 200 to 250 mm thick reinforced concrete with waterproofing additives in the mix to resist moisture penetration during heavy rain. The concrete is finished with a smooth formwork surface that requires no additional cladding, reducing material costs and eliminating the need for painting over the life of the building.
Wood Slat Screens for Privacy and Ventilation
Vertical wood slat screens appear on the covered patio and along the deck edges, providing subtle privacy without blocking airflow. This treatment is common in tropical and subtropical residential design because it allows breezes to pass through while screening sightlines from neighboring properties. The slats use 50 by 50 millimeter cedar or similar hardwood sections spaced 30 to 50 millimeters apart, creating a rhythm that casts changing shadow patterns across the patio floor throughout the day. For more on wood screen applications in residential facades, residential design resources covering material selection offer guidance on choosing between different wood species and spacing ratios.
Outdoor Living and Circulation Strategy
The outdoor spaces at Casa Flamboyant are as carefully designed as the interiors. A covered porch with a concrete floor transitions to an open deck wrapped in wood planks, which continues onto the swimming pool terrace furnished with white loungers. This seamless flow from the main home’s deck provides a great spot for hosting large-scale gatherings. The pool sits on an attractive stone base that adds texture and extends the material palette.
The Pool Terrace as Central Connector
The pool terrace connects the two house units physically and visually. This space serves as the focal point for outdoor entertainment and gives both units access to water and sun. The terrace is surfaced in the same stone as the base element, creating continuity between architecture and landscape. White loungers are arranged along the pool edge, and a tree planted in the middle of the deck provides shade and places a natural element at the center of the hardscape.
Flat Roof Design for Single-Level Homes
The Casa Flamboyant uses flat rooflines across both units, a signature of contemporary single-level design. Flat roofs offer several advantages for this project type:
- They reduce the visual mass of the building, helping the single-story volume blend into the site
- They eliminate the cost of trusses and complex roof framing, simplifying construction
- They can be used as accessible terraces or green roofs when adequately reinforced
- They simplify the integration of solar panels, skylights, and mechanical equipment
Drainage and Waterproofing for Flat Roofs
Flat roofs in tropical climates require robust waterproofing systems. The Casa Flamboyant uses a multi-layer approach: a structural concrete slab poured to a minimum slope of 1:50 toward internal drains, a liquid-applied polyurethane membrane reinforced with geotextile fabric, rigid insulation boards tapered for drainage, and a protective screed or gravel ballast layer. Drains are positioned at low points with overflow scuppers at parapet edges to handle intense rain events. Regular inspection of flashings at parapet walls and roof penetrations is required twice per year to maintain watertight integrity.
Grid Systems for Light and Ventilation
Concrete Grid Walls
Unit 1 features distinctive concrete grids bordered by white trims. These grids function as brise-soleil, the French term for sun-breaker screens commonly used in tropical modernism. The openings are sized to block direct solar radiation during the hottest part of the day while allowing reflected light and airflow to enter. Standard grid dimensions range from 150 by 150 millimeters for small openings to 300 by 300 millimeters for larger apertures, depending on the solar orientation and the desired balance between privacy and ventilation.
The concrete grids at Casa Flamboyant are repeated at the entrance and on the side elevation, creating a visual rhythm that ties the exterior composition together. White trim frames the grids, emphasizing the geometric pattern against the gray concrete wall. This approach to passive environmental control reduces the cooling load on the interior while eliminating the need for mechanical blinds on those elevations.
Deck Construction and Built-In Furnishings
The deck at Casa Flamboyant uses wood planks over a concealed substructure with built-in benches and wooden loungers integrated into the layout. Built-in deck furniture prevents the clutter of movable pieces and maintains the clean lines of the contemporary design. The wooden elements extend from the vertical slat screens through the deck surface to the loungers, creating a unified material expression across the outdoor living zone. The tree planted at deck center becomes the organizing natural element around which seating is arranged.
The stone base that supports the deck adds visual weight at ground level while the deck itself appears to float above it. This relationship between heavy base and lighter upper surface is a recurring technique in contemporary single-level design, anchoring the structure to the ground while keeping the living plane elevated and dry.