Cafe House by TETRO Architecture is an ode to Cerrado’s coffee influence

Coffee. More than a caffeinated decoction, is an emotion, a connector, a conversation starter, sometimes even a relationship mender. For centuries, several techniques have been honed to process the beverage—from transforming a berry to the perfect brew—traversing cultures and geographies. Brazilian coffee in particular, known for its nutty and chocolatey taste often peppered with citrusy notes —has over 50 per cent of its harvest coming from the state of Minas Gerais. When tasked with the design of a house in Cerrado—a type of savanna in west Minas Gerais—local studio TETRO Architecture sought inspiration in the landscape and a key interest for the client’s family. Cerrado is one of the principal coffee growing areas in Brazil while the client comprises a family of passionate coffee drinkers. Connecting the dots between people and the place, the Café House was born. Drawing references from the context’s red earth and twisted tree trunks, particularly manifesting an architectural representation of coffee itself, is how the 257 sqm house was conceived.

The TETRO Architecture team delved into understanding the essence and quality of this beloved beverage, particularly questioning “how to make a project that represents in its concepts, subjectively, the characteristics of coffee?” A key reference was found in the close-knit relationship between coffee and air. How the aroma distinguishes the quality of the beverage became the starting point for the interpretation of the architectural form. This analogy gave way to two floating white roofs, their seeming lightness mimicking the presence of air. Playing the role of coffee here are pigmented concrete walls on which the curved roof slabs rest, the solidity of the walls contrasting the weightlessness of the roof form. The house sits along a slope surrounded by lush vegetation and a lake. In the distance, one could see verdant estates, the ambience reverberating a buoyant lull of the countryside.

The house is divided into two blocks hosting separate amenities for the social and the intimate, each housed beneath a curved roof slab. A stepped pebbled garden, between the two blocks, creates a physical buffer between the two areas while allowing for controlled visual access. Nestled as an outdoor seating area for the family, it also serves as a landscaped pocket within the house, bringing the outside in. While one section of the house, higher up on the site, features an open plan layout comprising a kitchen, dining, and living area, the lower block on the site includes the master suite and a demi suite. A series of steps as well as a sloped passage along the home’s periphery allow access from outside in, whereas internally, the two blocks are tied by a discreet corridor passage flanked by a pair of earthen walls. This passage, as per TETRO Architecture, is designed as “a preparation for moving between the two distinct atmospheres of the house”.

Creating spatial connections with coffee—a beverage that’s enjoyed both in company and solitude—the design similarly reveals spaces for both conversations and contemplation. The living area opens onto a terrace, its floor to ceiling windows once pulled back bridges the home’s domesticity to the majestic greens outside. Also someone working in the kitchen could see what is happening on the stone steps of the courtyard garden on the other side. A small spa is also inserted between the kitchen and the courtyard, its floor to ceiling sliding shutters adjust to the degree of one’s need of privacy.

The interiors feature a palette of greys and wooden tones in an attempt to not deviate the attention from the crisp white floating roof and the robust earthen walls. Speaking of the landscape, as per TETRO Architecture, the terrain was untouched. “The trees,” the Brazilian practice says, “were not cut down and now establish new relationships with the built volumes. These were implanted in the original dimensions of the land and between them, a stepped garden was developed.”

TETRO Architecture's professional practice is characterised by architectural forms that integrate with nature and an exploration of the possibilities of empty spaces, both of which culminate in an approach exemplified in their ‘Café House’. The project reflects on the impact architecture can have by transforming spaces into living narratives that celebrate the culture, history, and aspirations of a community.