Located in the Perdizes neighborhood of São Paulo, this apartment occupies a listed heritage building set within a densely wooded site, with trees on both sides. The building has a distinctive architectural character, with a striking and particularly interesting façade that served as one of the main references for the renovation project.
The apartment had already undergone a previous renovation, but the existing layout no longer adequately met the needs of the new resident. The original configuration included one very large bathroom, another that was quite small, and a cramped laundry area. The project therefore began with a reorganization of the wet areas, seeking to make better use of the available space and adapt it to the new program.
Through this redistribution, it was possible to create two bathrooms, a laundry area, and a small home office, as well as an auxiliary space connected to the kitchen, functioning as an extension of it and accommodating the pantry and refrigerator. The result was a more interesting and functional spatial arrangement.
Another important intervention was opening the kitchen to the living room. This change enhanced one of the apartment’s most distinctive features: its orientation toward two façades. The apartment receives morning sunlight through one façade and afternoon sunlight through the other, while both offer views toward the tree canopies.
By opening the kitchen, this characteristic could be better integrated into the interior, allowing natural light to enter the apartment from both sides. The result is a much more pleasant spatial quality, with greater brightness and a stronger connection to the surrounding vegetation.
To provide greater privacy for the home office, the project incorporated one of the client’s personal interests: wine. A wine-storage shelving unit was designed as a partition between the spaces, functioning both as storage for the bottles and as a visual filter for the home office.
The selection of materials also sought to establish a direct connection with the building’s Brazilian modernist architecture. Rather than creating an intervention completely detached from the existing structure, the project sought to restore and highlight elements that were already part of the apartment’s and building’s identity.
The original wooden parquet flooring was restored, preserving the existing materiality. In the kitchen, a decorative ceramic tile panel was introduced, reinforcing the connection with Brazilian architecture.
Another element given prominence was the cobogó screen on the rear façade. The project deliberately kept it visible, highlighting its presence and the quality of natural light it brings into the apartment.
The material palette was complemented by the use of fluted glass and wire-reinforced glass, elements that contribute both to the project’s visual language and to the creation of different levels of transparency and privacy.
Ultimately, the renovation sought not only to reorganize the spaces to meet the needs of the new resident, but also to establish a sense of continuity with the existing architecture.
The result is an apartment that combines functionality, natural light, materials, and elements characteristic of Brazilian modernist architecture, creating an identity that directly engages with both the building and the Perdizes neighborhood.
