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White Cube Vacation Home Zips Closed When Not in Use

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How to design a luxurious and large vacation home – that only gets use for a few months each year? It needs to be securely locked up when not in use.

The architect, Jose Kos, makes use of one of the most industrial of solutions to zip it up when not in use – the roll up industry-sized garage door. Several huge rollup doors completely seal up the home like a gigantic warehouse.

Sited near the city of Rio de Janeiro, the house sits on a hillside sculpted into flat lawns so the family’s children can play games.

It is a perfect white cube, at 10 meters by 10 meters by 10 meters, perfectly proportioned.

When the house is in use, there is no hint of the stark rollup garage doors.

It is simply a large and elegant architectural home set on a generous rolling flat lawn designed for the games of children.

The transitional space shaded by a concrete pergola expands the dwelling spaces through the huge windows out to a sheltered two story porch area.

Interior fittings are unadorned industrial steel to match the fold up doors.

Similarly, the windows are framed in commercial window casements.

With the three rollup doors up, there is no hint of a garage-like space within. But this entire space is enclosed when they are closed up.

The interiors all are aligned facing the best view, towards the rising sun, making it easy to close up the house till next year.

The entrance is marked by a bright green retaining wall, which links an existing rock to the upper site limit, celebrating the entry, while while separating the house from the rainy winds and the neighbors’ views.

For ten months, between visits, the vacation home is closed up securely.