Set on a 12.26 x 20.34-meter lot, Casa de Mi begins with the renovation of a 15-year-old residence that had never been habited. The original structure, consisting of three bedrooms, a compact living room, and a linear kitchen, revealed its greatest potential in the generous backyard, which ultimately guided the design process: to create a home centered on family gatherings, the client’s most important wish.

The strategy was to preserve the existing structure while making precise interventions, expanding only the essentialspaces for everyday living. The primary suite was enlarged to ensure comfort and privacy, while the rear of the lot was transformed with new additions: a dining room, support areas, laundry, and an outdoor social space with a pool and barbecue.

The main challenge lay in the original condition of the neighborhood houses, built as row homes. The architectural concept sought to break away from the sense of a “shared wall,” creating instead the perception of a detached, freestanding house. The living room played a key role in this strategy: the window wall was pulled back from the side boundary to open space for a garden that visually extends indoors. This decision, along with the use of exposed concrete slats framing the entrance and living room volume, helped dissolve the physical and visual barrier with the neighbor.

Additions were carefully calibrated, keeping the original recessed roofline and minimizing demolitions to control costs. Distinct volumes articulate the new program: the living room, marked by exposed concrete slats; the white wood panel wall that lightly separates living and kitchen; and the horizontal garage block, designed in a steel truss structure clad in cement boards painted white. Stone pillars and planes reinforce the main entrance and reappear as a scenic backdrop for the pool, tying interior and exterior together.

Natural ventilation was another guiding principle. Openings in the living room and kitchen create cross-ventilation, while the laundry area, defined by a perforated metal screen, received a higher ceiling and slab extension to allow hot air to escape. These strategies enhance thermal comfort and elevate daily life. The material palette is defined by white surfaces and warm imbuia wood tones, accented by the colors of the furniture and the greenery of the landscaping. This welcoming composition, rooted in the built form, reinforces the concept of a home that, though born from a row-house typology, sought its own sense of freedom.