French-Brazilian architecture studio Triptyque has completed an 85-metre-tall residential tower in São Paulo that offers its occupants indoor-outdoor living.

The 24-storey building is part of the Onze22 development, which includes a smaller adjacent structure. In the residential tower, balconies wrap the building on three sides, allowing apartments to extend outdoors.

Triptyque aimed to offer "total fluidity between exterior and interior", a quality that is not typical in high-rise homes.

It did this by combining floor-to-ceiling glazing with concrete floorplates that project out from the building volume.

This means apartments can be completely opened up on at least one side, allowing living spaces to merge with covered balconies that range from widths of seven to 22 metres.

The balconies are interspersed with sv vertical semi-opaque shading screens and some of these balconies integrate planting along the edges.

"Each point on the balcony invites you to observe São Paulo, providing endless views and, at the corners, the possibility of letting your gaze go in different directions," said Triptyque co-founder Gui Sibaud.

Onze22 is the fourth project that the Paris- and São Paulo-based studio has designed for Brazilian housing developer Idea!Zarvos.

Known for its innovative approach, the developer often works with well-known architects. Previous schemes include the 360º Building designed by Isay Weinfeld and Ourânia designed by Studio MK27.

This project is located in Vila Madalena, an affluent, bohemian neighbourhood in the west of São Paulo.

It provides 243 homes, with 88 studio apartments in the smaller of the two blocks and a mix of one- and two-bedroom apartments in the 85-metre tower.

The entire building has a sense of visual lightness, thanks to the slender concrete floorplates. These are supported by concrete columns that extend through the structure from top to bottom, becoming pilotis where they meet the ground.

"Pilotis allow for a smooth and diffused transition between the public – the street – and the private," added Triptyque co-founder Olivier Raffaëlli.

The two blocks are linked by a four-storey podium, although the scale of the smaller block is largely hidden due to it being partially sunken into the sloping ground.

A landscape scheme by garden designer Rodrigo Oliveira surrounds the base of the building in tropical greenery.

The aim was for it to "emerge from a green belt as if it were a dominant living tree", according to Triptyque.

Triptyque is responsible for many buildings in São Paulo, with other notable examples including the Red Bull Station cultural centre and the Leitão 653 creative studios.

Other recent additions to the São Paulo skyline include the Platina 220 skyscraper, which recently became the Brazilian city's tallest building, and the MN15 Ibirapuera residential tower.

The photography is by Maíra Acayaba and Edu Castello.

Project credits

Client: Idea!Zarvos
Architecture: Triptyque Architecture
Project team: Gui Sibaud, Olivier Raffaëlli, Carol Bueno, Greg Bousquet, João Vieira, Renata Cupini, Julio Prieto, Larissa Higa, Victor Hertel, Marina Olivi, Natália Shiroma
Landscaping: Rodrigo Oliveira