An engineer who lives in Porto Alegre and often travels to
Rio de Janeiro for work decided to buy this
25 m² micro-apartment in Leblon to have a base in the capital of Rio de Janeiro. The new owner then commissioned architect
Rodolfo Consoli to carry out a general renovation project to be completed in a maximum of three months.
“The client wanted the apartment to have a
beachy Rio vibe , to be cozy, with a place to entertain friends and, above all, to be easy to maintain and clean, since it is not his official residence,” says Consoli. “Since the property is located in an area full of bars, he also asked to replace the existing window with an acoustic model,” he adds.
Without altering the original layout of the property, the overall design sought to create a
practical and comfortable loft , with plenty of seating for entertaining friends, despite the space being small.
As the architect's main inspiration was the proximity to the sea, blue steals the show in the decor, in various tones, materials and finishes. “Gray was used in a specific way to add a masculine touch, while the wood finish makes the space more welcoming and matches the existing parquet floor, which was maintained and restored,” says Consoli.
According to Consoli, the project’s big differentiator is the blue ceramic covering that extends across the entire wall in front of the bed, encompassing the kitchen and TV, accompanied, at the top, by a wooden shelf that replaces the traditional cabinets. “In addition to making the loft visually lighter, this shelf was also a way to save on carpentry, since the client didn’t need much storage space,” he says. Another highlight of the project are the two walls painted blue up to the middle, with a skirting board painted gray, and the large “box” also painted blue, which delimits the dining area, near the window.
“Our biggest challenge in this project was, without a doubt, creating and approving the project, generating budgets, purchasing everything and executing the work in just three months. After the purchase, the client only saw the apartment again when the project was 100% finished and loved the result”, concludes architect
Rodolfo Consoli. 
