Lawyer André Previato's maternal grandmother bought an apartment in the
Saint Honoré Building on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo while it was still in the planning stages in the 1960s. The building, designed by builder
João Artacho Jurado , was one of the first buildings in the region and is considered a classic of São Paulo architecture.
In 2019, the lady, who had lived in the property her entire life, passed away and left the property to her family. The
240 m² apartment on the 18th floor ended up being purchased by André and his husband, architect
Alexandre Skaff (who is a partner with
Simone Carneiro at the
SAO Arquitetura firm).
The office then began the project by analyzing the entire structural plan, as well as the items that could be restored.
The apartment had a large collection of furniture by Dinucci, a carpenter and designer from the 1960s , who designed all the furniture in the original apartment.
The renovation made adjustments to the layout of the property to optimize the new spaces and circulation and, at the same time, meticulous restoration work and selection of materials were carried out so that the intervention would be in harmony with the architecture of the building.
"The design of the property was rethought in order to have the least possible interference, the
rooms were enlarged, creating a single integrated space, the exposed structure, the result of the demolition, added to a granite monolith that was created in one of the quadrants of the space, delimit the social area of the apartment", says the office.
The new connections between the rooms provided greater natural lighting and cross ventilation. The
kitchen , now open to the dining room, gained space with the insertion of the
granite island that became the support and connection space between the rooms.
A
new plumbing system made it possible to create a
new toilet and completely reconfigure all the rooms, such as the bathrooms, utility area and
kitchen . By taking over part of the original utility area and expanding the master suite, the two remaining bedrooms were adapted for a home office and a painting studio.
The
material palette was based on the use of
granite, wood and marble . "The apartment carried with it a great emotional memory, both in the furniture that had witnessed three generations and in the original finishes. From the peroba rosa floor that was removed, restored and reinstalled, to the wooden frames that were redone following Jurado's design, every detail of the apartment was designed to create a set that would allow the union of existing elements with more contemporary items", say the architects.
In parallel with the execution of the work, research and scouting in antique shops sought accessories for, for example, the
original Murano glass door handles and the restoration of the 1963 pendant lights . The most delicate challenge, however, was with the Dinucci furniture pieces: with the advice and support of a partner antique shop, the pieces were renewed and received new fabrics.
