Nicholas Alencar · CLIENT: Alencar
Kaiserstrasse is a seven unit residential building in Blumenau, Brazil, that redefines urban living by merging the privacy of a house with the advantages of vertical housing. Each full floor apartment opens to expansive terraces, private pools, and integrated planters, transforming the facade into a vertical garden. The open ground floor invites interaction with the city, while the communal rooftop offers shared leisure and panoramic views, balancing privacy, community, and sustainability.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- Kaiserstrasse is a seven-unit residential building that redefines urban housing by blending the privacy and richness of a house - verandas, courtyards, vegetation - with the advantages of vertical living. Each unit occupies a full floor, with private outdoor spaces and mature trees growing from the slabs. Located on a historic avenue once lined with villas, the building uses parametric design to create stepped, dynamic forms that maximize natural light and airflows.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Total built area: 4,973 square meters. The building rises with a stepped form, housing seven full-floor apartments with terraces, private pools, and integrated vegetation. Structure: cast-in-place reinforced concrete. Façade: floor-to-ceiling glazing with brise-soleils. Features include natural cross ventilation, smart irrigation, and communal rooftop amenities.
- Tags
- Residential, Building, Architecture, Brazil, Residential Building, Residential Architecture, Vertical Garden, Parametric Design, Adaptive Layout, Private Pools
- Production Technology
- The project was realized through cast-in-place reinforced concrete combined with integrated planters in the slabs. Parametric design tools guided solar and ventilation studies, ensuring environmental performance. Structural cores and minimized internal load-bearing walls enabled open, adaptable layouts. Local, durable materials with low embodied carbon were prioritized.
- Design Challenge
- The greatest challenge was reconciling strict setback regulations with the desire for generous terraces and openness. Instead of limiting the design, the rules shaped its sculpted form. Additional challenges included integrating mature trees into structural slabs, balancing privacy with community, and ensuring sustainability with local construction techniques.
- Project Duration
- The project started in 2020 in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil, and was completed in March 2025. Located on Alameda Rio Branco, one of the city’s most historic avenues, the building embodies a contemporary reinterpretation of the street’s traditional villas while proposing a new vision for urban living.
- Operation Flow
- Each resident experiences the privacy of a house with the benefits of collective living. Apartments flow seamlessly from interior to large terraces and pools, creating indoor-outdoor living. The open ground floor reconnects the building with the city, while the shared rooftop offers leisure and gathering space, encouraging community interaction.
- Research
- Applied architectural research focused on integrating house-like qualities into high-density housing. Objectives included maximizing light, ventilation, and biodiversity. Methods: solar studies, parametric modeling, and structural experimentation. Data came from environmental simulations and code interpretation. Results: adaptable layouts, reduced energy demand, and a façade as a living vertical garden. Insights highlight sustainable, community-oriented urban housing.
- Inspiration
- The project was inspired by the historic avenue once lined with villas, where gardens and verandas defined daily life. The motive was to reinterpret these qualities—privacy, openness, vegetation—within a vertical structure, blending the comfort of a private house with the convenience of urban apartment living. Strict setback regulations also shaped the building’s sculpted, stepped form.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Leonardo Finotti, Kaiserstraße, 2025
Image #2: Leonardo Finotti, Kaiserstraße, 2025
Image #3: Leonardo Finotti, Kaiserstraße, 2025
Image #4: Leonardo Finotti, Kaiserstraße, 2025
Image #5: Leonardo Finotti, Kaiserstraße, 2025
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