In recent years, Quito’s hyper-centre has gradually emptied as residents move toward the surrounding valleys in search of larger homes and quieter environments. As apartments become vacant, urban life begins to thin out. Tres en Tamayo positions itself against this quiet migration, not by expanding space, but by intensifying how it is used.
Originally, the apartment functioned almost as a single, undifferentiated interior. The renovation reorganises the existing footprint without increasing its area, introducing spatial hierarchy through furniture placement, storage systems and subtle architectural gestures.
Rather than replacing everything, the project reuses the clients’ existing furniture. Each piece is carefully repositioned and assigned a precise role within the new layout. Only the brown built-in elements are new: these act as storage systems and spatial organisers, supporting different daily activities while defining zones within the open plan.
At the entrance, a bookshelf operates as a filter, preventing a direct visual connection into the living area and creating a moment of transition between public corridor and domestic interior. This threshold introduces a gradual spatial sequence instead of immediate exposure.
Colour is used strategically. A muted grey tone is applied near the entry to subtly compress the perception of space, allowing the apartment to feel as though it expands progressively as one moves inward. Existing doors are reused and painted blue, bringing light and vibrancy into the interior. The same treatment is applied to wardrobe doors, reinforcing continuity while adding depth and contrast.
The intervention demonstrates that reactivating a central apartment does not require demolition or excess, but rather precision. Through reuse, reorganisation and spatial calibration, Tres en Tamayo transforms an ordinary layout into a layered, flexible and contemporary urban dwelling.
More than a renovation, the project is a quiet statement: the city centre can still offer quality of life, if we choose to inhabit it differently.
