- Project: MH House
- Architect: Jacobsen Arquitetura
- Location: Brazil, São Paulo
- Year: 2018
- Area: 730 m2
- Photography: Leonardo Finotti
A Forested Retreat on the Edge of the Sea
MH House emerges from a challenging, steeply sloping terrain deeply embedded in the Atlantic Forest, along Brazil’s São Paulo coastline. The design ambition was clear: craft a home that blends seamlessly with its environment, preserve privacy from the street, and open outward toward forest and sea.
The house is conceived as a two-level terrain-embedded sequence. The basement (street-level) hosts the entrance, garage, and private suites, while the upper level floats above the vegetation as an L-shaped volume containing the social and leisure areas. A central cut in the structure allows daylight to penetrate the lower level, integrating interior and landscape.
Spatial Composition & Program
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Lower Level (Street side / Entry): This floor contains the main entrance, garage, private bedrooms, and service areas. A reflective water mirror set within a central cut helps bring natural light into deeper spaces.
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Upper Level (Forest side): Designed as a seemingly weightless volume, the upper floor accommodates living, dining, cooking, and spa/lounge areas, fully opening onto the forest and pool terrace through large sliding façades.
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The sloped roof over the upper volume introduces variations in ceiling height, enhancing spatial dynamism and visual interest.
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Leisure & Pool: The terrace and infinity pool extend directly from the upper level, commanding views and reinforcing the sense of immersion in the forest.
This programmatic layering — private below, social above — softens the visual presence of the building from the street while celebrating openness to nature.
Material Logic & Aesthetic Strategy
Materials were chosen for their texture, durability, and minimal maintenance:
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Carbonized wood cladding (charred façade) wraps the exterior, giving it a discreet, dark-toned presence that ages gracefully.
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Sawn granite floors move continuously from interior to terrace, reinforcing spatial continuity and visual flow.
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Natural wood lining softens interior ceilings and joinery, adding warmth and tactile quality.
The steel structure’s slender profiles allow large spans and cantilevers, emphasizing horizontality and transparency.
Light, Shadow & Environmental Response
A central negative cut (void) in the built mass channels natural light and airflow into the lower level, softening the divide between floors. Light wells and deep overhangs regulate sunlight and shade, allowing the home to breathe with its surroundings. Sliding glass systems open the social areas fully to the exterior, turning verandas and living rooms into one continuous spatial sequence.
The orientation, shading, and structure work in tandem to moderate heat gain, promote cross ventilation, and preserve indoor comfort with minimal mechanical interventions.
Sustainability & Design Intent
MH House trusts in architectural strategy more than add-ons. The elevated form, embedded lower level, natural materials, and passive daylighting and ventilation all contribute to a sustainable and sensitive design. Maintenance demands are controlled by material choices, while the forested site is preserved as much as possible.
In the end, the architecture becomes an extension of the forest itself—a quiet presence rather than a dominating object.
Conclusion
MH House by Jacobsen Arquitetura stands as a compelling example of architecture that listens first: to topography, to light, to forest, to sea. Through refined formal restraint, careful structuring, and an elegant material palette, the home achieves a seamless dialogue with its environment. It does not impose—it unfolds.
With MH House, Jacobsen Arquitetura demonstrates once more their ability to sculpt modern living that is both luxurious and deeply anchored in nature.
