Press Release
Kaiserstrasse Residential Building by Nicholas Alencar Receives the Bronze A' Design Award in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
Nicholas Alencar recognized for architecture, building and structure design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 26, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Architecture, Building and Structure Design category for Kaiserstrasse Residential Building by Nicholas Alencar, designed for Alencar. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
About Kaiserstrasse Residential Building
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.
About Nicholas Alencar
Nicholas Alencar is a Brazilian architect and founder of Alencar, a multidisciplinary studio that integrates architecture, urbanism, development, and project management. His work spans all stages of the built environment process, from concept development to construction and delivery, combining spatial design with strategic and operational frameworks. The practice engages in projects of varying scales, including social initiatives and large-scale developments, contributing to the transformation of urban contexts. His approach focuses on aligning design, feasibility, and execution to support the realization of complex projects and contemporary spatial experiences.
Award Record
Nicholas Alencar is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. All of the awards belong to the 2025 - 2026 edition of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Architecture, Building and Structure Design Award
The A' Architecture Design Award is an international architectural design competition recognizing good architectural designs by best architects worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to architectural design studios, building contractors, structural engineering firms and architecture and design consultants from all countries. Entries typically include skyscrapers, museums, residential buildings, commercial complexes, educational institutions and religious structures. Awarded architectural projects are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/architecture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/175664
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/175664
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!175664
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/327834
- Further Information from the Laureate: http://bit.ly/473Zs5w
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Kaiserstrasse Residential Building
- Function
- Residential Building
- Category
- Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Discipline
- Spatial Design
- Industry
- Architecture
- Colors
- Steel Blue, Black, Dark Slate Gray and Cornflower Blue
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Alencar
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Nicholas Alencar
- Country
- Brazil
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #175664
Credits
- Image Credits
- Leonardo Finotti, Kaiserstraße, 2025
Design Details
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Realization and 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.
- Operation and Interaction
- 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.
- Project Duration and Location
- 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.
- Specifications
- 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.
- Keywords
- Residential, Building, Architecture, Brazil, Residential Building, Residential Architecture, Vertical Garden, Parametric Design, Adaptive Layout, Private Pools
