Txai Bungalow by TETRO Architecture
Txai Bungalow is a coastal residence in Itacaré, Bahia, designed to integrate seamlessly with its natural surroundings. Positioned on a steep hillside overlooking the ocean, the house embraces the site's topography, tropical vegetation, and climate. The design emphasizes shade, natural light, and outdoor circulation, creating a living experience that connects architecture with the surrounding landscape. Organized into four distinct volumes, the residence offers panoramic sea views from every main space while minimizing its environmental impact through planted roofs, natural materials, and contemporary forms inspired by the local context.
Project Name: Bangalô Txai / Txai Bungalow
Firm: TETRO Architecture
Website: http://www.tetro.com.br/
E-mail: tetro@tetro.com.br
--
Responsable Architects: Carlos Maia, Débora Mendes e Igor Macedo
Location: Itacaré, Bahia, Brasil
Completion Year: 2025
Plot Area: 3.845,87m²
Total Built Area (m²) : 769,61m²
Photographs: Lupércio Fotografia
Project description:
Located in Itacaré, on the southern coast of Bahia, Txai Bungalow occupies an elevated slope facing the sea. From the site, the view opens almost 180 degrees over the ocean, above the existing palm and coconut trees. Isolated in the middle of nature, the house is organized through a direct relationship with the topography, the vegetation, and the climate.In this place, what matters is shade. The seawater, the coconut trees, and the light filtered through their leaves guided the main design decisions. This idea appears most clearly in the roof of the social space: a glass structure protects the room, while a lower layer of biriba wood filters the natural light. Throughout the day, the shadows move across the floor and the surfaces of the house, creating an atmosphere in constant transformation, close to the experience of being under the canopy of a coconut tree.The program is distributed across four blocks placed at different levels of the site.
Two volumes house the guest suites, with two bedrooms each; the main suite occupies an isolated block at the highest part of the land; and the central volume brings together the living room, dining area, gourmet space, and pool. Between them, circulation takes place outdoors, through organic decks, stairs, and garden paths. To move from the bedrooms to the social area, one crosses the landscape, making the act of walking an essential part of the experience of the house.The steep slope of the site allows all the main rooms to be oriented toward the sea. The bedrooms, the main suite, and the social area open to the same landscape, each from a different level. On the level of the living room, the infinity pool visually extends the space toward the ocean, bringing the color of the pool water closer to the color of the sea.The bedroom blocks are covered by planted slabs, reducing the presence of the construction on the slope and reinforcing its integration with the landscape. The angular walls, in a slightly pinkish earth tone, establish a relationship with the soil, the cliffs, and the rustic materials of Bahia. At the same time, their irregular geometry introduces a contemporary language, one that does not literally reproduce local architecture, but takes it as a starting point to build a new relationship between shelter, shade, and nature.
Credits
Contributors:
Bianca Carvalho
Bruno Bontempo
Bruna Maciel
Sabrina Freitas
Luisa Lage
Manuela Moss
Saulo Saraiva
List of Manufacturers:
Construction: Bicalho&Trevisan
Structure: Calculo concreto
Hydraulic; Electric: CA Engenharia
Lighting Design: Mingroni
Windows: Demuner
Woodwork: Demuner
Cabinets: Todeschini
Interiors: David Bastos
Curtains: Hunter Douglas
Fitness Equipment: Live Fitness, Matrix
Landscaping: Orsini
