After over a year searching for the ideal apartment to renovate, the young couple and their two cats, Bartô and Fred, found a 93-square-meter property in a superblock in the Asa Sul area of Brasília's Plano Piloto. Of the three bedrooms, the first was converted into an office, the second maintained as a future children's room, and the third transformed into a suite, with an additional bathroom created by utilizing the space from the old service bathroom and laundry area.
To expand the social area, improve cross ventilation, and enhance natural lighting, the kitchen was integrated into the living room. The separation between these areas is marked by different flooring: restored wooden parquet in dry areas and cementitious porcelain tiles in wet areas, along with an exposed concrete beam on the ceiling.
In keeping with the modernist style of Brasília's superblocks, the beam and ceiling slab were stripped of plaster throughout the living room and corridor, highlighting the rusticity of the exposed concrete used to construct the superblock, as old as the city itself, both inaugurated in 1960. The corridor closure, installed to allow for the air conditioning of the living room and to keep the cats out of the intimate area of the house at night, is a floor-to-ceiling pivot door that, when open, preserves the apparent continuity of the beam and concrete slab, as well as the green color axis that begins at the apartment entrance, wraps around the kitchen counter facing the living room, and continues to the end of the corridor.
The old kitchen-laundry-service room-service bathroom area had its partitions demolished and rethought to prioritize the couple's needs. Adjacent to the living room, they desired a spacious and integrated kitchen, with generous countertops and ample storage space, allowing them to cook together and socialize with friends while preparing meals during visits.
As a backdrop to the kitchen, a tile panel created especially for this project by Ubi Azulejos adds another element that, along with the cobogós (traditional modernist Brazilian breeze blocks), exposed concrete, parquet flooring, and large windows overlooking the green surroundings, celebrates and highlights the best of the traditional architecture of Brasília's superblocks. The new laundry area was built in the former kitchen space, covered in tiles, with a sliding glass window for natural light and ventilation. In the place of the old laundry area, the suite bathroom was built, offering a broad view of the cobogós that receive morning light, protected by frosted sliding glass windows to preserve the residents' privacy.
Team:
Architect: Coplanar Arquitetura
Author: Matheus Carvalho
Co-author: Máwere Portela
Collaborator: Lucas Frota
Lighting consultant: Maura Garzon
Contractor: Matheus Borges
Photography: Maurício Araújo
Material Used:
1. Ubi Azulejos: Tile 20x20cm, Cascata line
2. Arauco: MDF Arauco Jade Green
3. Duratex: MDF Duratex, Freijó Puro
4. Duratex: MDF Duratex Gianduia
5. Duratex: MDF Duratex, Branco Diamante
6. Eliane: Porcelain Cimento AC 84x84cm
7. Eliane: Branco Tile, AC Pool 20x20cm
8. Ton Petit Jardin: Clay vessels, various models
