Guided by temporality, the project for the Praia JK sand sports complex was conceived by Soek Arquitetura to occupy a vacant lot on one of the main traffic ways of the city of São Paulo. Developed to remain on the lot for a limited but indefinite period, the project used prefabricated and modular construction solutions and systems, enabling assembly and future disassembly in an efficient and quick manner.
Most of the lot is occupied by sand courts. In the remaining space, an orthogonal grid of metal white painted beams and pillars of two stories was installed, housing the complex's complementary programs: changing rooms, storages, administrative spaces, a restaurant, and bar. Those spaces that require closed environments are organized by four boxes positioned within the structural grid cladded with prefabricated wooden panels in the same modularity of the project, some of which open and close through mechanical systems.
Attached to the main structure, two passive sun control systems were installed to filter direct light, providing comfort to the building's users. On the north and east facades, perforated wavy screen panels, and on the roof metallic brise solei.
The finishes and materials were selected in reference to the organic materials present in the complex, such as the fulget on the floor that is camouflaged with the sand of the courts and the wood of the vegetation, both breaking with the rigidity of the materials of the buildings in the surroundings. The white structure serves as a neutral base for the other materials and vegetation.
Vegetation permeates the structural grid, disrupting the modularity that governs all other components of the project in the horizontal plane and in the vertical plane through voids in the floor of the upper floor. On the upper floor, the perimeter was occupied by vedelias, xanadus and philodendrons that overflow beyond their planters and which, together with the other landscaping elements and the natural covering of the boxes, break the neutrality and industrial rigidity of the other elements.
