The Ybirá apartment, located in the Vila Madalena neighborhood in São Paulo, it's a "garden-type" apartment. From the 105m², 60m² are indoor and 55m² a private outdoor garden. Therefore, the first challenge arises: how to increase the internal usable space while redistributing the environment and maintaining a good relationship with the external yard and nature.
Therefore, we proposed a metallic structure and glass enclosure outdoors, allowing the relocation of the kitchen and dining room. These new spaces were created with views of the park and the internal garden. It was also possible to enlarge the living room and create an entrance hall - defined by a curved slatted panel made with cumaru wood, that behind contains a new bathroom, which was displaced from its original position to enlarge the main bedroom.
Another theme of the project was to allow the visual appreciation of nature. We proposed a continuity of the building flowerpot with an external wood bench that contains plants beside it. The transparency of the glass enclosures creates a closer relationship with the greenery inside and outside of the apartment.
After the resolution of the apartment layout, the idea was to establish a neutral and cohesive base for all rooms, to bring the proper emphasis to the materials employed, the furniture, and the design objects. Consequently, all the walls inside are white or gray, and the floor material is the same throughout the rooms, highlighting the natural wood used on the carpentry panels.
Following the concept of the project, the kitchen is composed of neutral gray carpentry, so the protagonist is the exotic Brazilian granite of the countertop. The suite's bathroom has the same chromatic color, receiving cement-based coating on all walls, and its countertops in granilite made spatially for the project and bronze finishing metals.
The curved geometry and the organic shapes, traditional to Brazilian architecture and design, are protagonists throughout the project: they are in the curved panel of the hall, in the furniture of the granite table and table, in the mirror of the bathroom, and the organic carpet of the living room. Thus, the synthesis of the project is the correct relationship between these three elements: form, texture, and nature.
What was the brief?
The client would like an apartment compatible with her lifestyle: a good reception area for friends, a home-office space, and comfortable living spaces. Another relevant premise was to be in dialogue with nature and the view.
Who are the clients and what's interesting about them?
She is a young, independent furniture designer, consolidated in her career and personal life. Since she is a furniture designer, we wanted to highlight her authorial furniture in the environments created. Therefore, the project ran parallel to the custom production of some design pieces.
What were the key challenges?
The main challenge was the change of the kitchen's position from the apartment's entrance to the balcony, which we closed with glass and integrated with the living room. Another transformation was the master bedroom, we demolished the laundry and placed the bathroom there, expanding the internal size. Finally, we have a new gourmet room, also done through the expansion made possible by the glass enclosure.
What were the solutions?
The biggest highlight was the resolution of the layout and the incorporation of the outside areas of the garden into the apartment. The changes in the kitchen, the suite, and the creation of the dining were possible by closing and using the external space, which increased the footage and could bring more comfort. In addition, the glass enclosure allowed us to maintain a good relationship between the garden and the landscape with these created environments.
