“The clients asked for an
apartment in very light tones , with
predominantly natural materials , and an architectural design that was easy to maintain, dispensing with major day-to-day maintenance,” says architect
Camila Simbalista , who designed this project in Ipanema (RJ) with
Paula Wetzel (both from
Studio 021 Arquitetura , the
CASACOR Rio team’s office).
Among the main changes to the layout of the
275 m² property, the
kitchen was extended towards the former service area, thus making room for a new pantry. Originally, the property had three
bedrooms , but only one of them was a suite. With the renovation, an existing dining room and one of the two service bedrooms were eliminated to create four suites, one of which is intended for guests.
“The main difference in the
social area is the
fixed bench that runs along the entire window wall , designed by us in concrete and covered in the same natural Travertino Navona stone as the floor. Measuring 10 m long, it supports the living
room and TV room and helps to better integrate the two spaces. We purposely left one side of it without upholstery to support objects, plants and books,” explains Paula.
Another highlight is the
vertical (cylindrical) louvers used to visually "separate" the apartment entrance from the living rooms, without blocking the view, light and ventilation. "In addition, they helped to disguise a beam found during the construction," adds partner Camila.
To
mimic the volumes of the elevator hall and the kitchen facing the living room, the professionals covered the walls with a
large slatted panel of peroba-do-campo , creating an interesting contrast with the light floor. Note that a section of the ceiling in the social area has
a slatted wooden lining in white lacquer , with a trapdoor, used as a
storage area for the air conditioning machines that serve the living rooms.
To add touches of color, the architects chose a large, colorful canvas (by artist
Marcella Madeira ) for the living room (in shades of pink, at the client's request), as well as an
off-white rug with subtle blue stripes. The furniture was upholstered in light fabrics made of 100% linen, leather and suede.
The decor follows a casual, contemporary and light style, in total harmony with the Rio
lifestyle , and uses some pieces purchased to decorate the previous apartment, which was rented, such as the Bossa dining chairs (by
Jader Almeida ) and the blue painting in the dining room (by the artist
Cosme Martins ).
The new furniture prioritized timeless and signature designs, with emphasis on the Mole armchair with stool (by
Sergio Rodrigues ), and casual ones, such as the super comfortable white sofa in the TV room, filled with loose cushions on the seat and back.
In the master suite, the architects proposed a different
layout to optimize space and improve natural ventilation and lighting, especially on the countertop supporting the sinks. A large sliding door made of natural wood allows the bathroom to be fully integrated into the bedroom, providing visual amplitude, or to isolate the spaces when necessary.
