145 m² apartment combines Scandinavian style and Japanese culture in its décor

Located in Icaraí, a neighborhood in the city of Niterói (RJ), this 145 m² apartment was recently acquired by a middle-aged business couple with two children (a teenager and a baby) to be the family's new home. Thus After receiving the keys from the construction company, they hired architects Cadé Marino, Michelle Wilkinson and Thiago Morsch, from the Up3 Arquitetura office, to develop a project tailored to their needs and tastes. “They wanted spacious, bright spaces to comfortably welcome friends and family . They also asked for a project that was both light and sophisticated, with color only in the details,” says architect Cadé Marino , one of the partners at Up3 . Another demand presented for the couple was having the option of fully integrating the kitchen into the living room . According to Cadé, when the keys were handed over, the original layout of the apartment had four bedrooms. In the Up3 Arquitetura project, the bedroom next to the master suite was annexed to create a closet and increase the area of the suite as a whole. Another major change was the completely opening the living room onto the balcony (28 m²) to create integration between the living and dining areas and the new gourmet space. “Without a doubt, this solution has brought more comfort, spaciousness and natural light to all spaces”, he says. Michelle Wilkinson , partner architect at Up3. “In addition, thinking about functionality and lighting, we demolished the service room, which was not necessary for the clients, to better integrate the living room and the kitchen. And we also removed the toilet from the original plan to expand the living room space, since that visitors can use the apartment’s guest bathroom,” he adds. The project was based on the Scandinavian style and was also influenced by Japanese culture , creating a light, cool , sophisticated concept, with a lot of fluidity. The Scandinavian style is present in the cooler tones, in the functionality of the environments and in the minimalism, in addition to the natural lighting. abundant in all spaces. The Japanese influence appears in the use of wood in lighter tones, the presence of natural vegetation, the integration of the exterior with the interior and in the organic shapes. An interesting feature of the project is the composition of 16 small moon paintings featured in the living room, which was created by the Up3 office itself using images that the architects bought on the internet. The result, which was a huge hit with the residents, became if a unique and unusual element in the decor.

“The presence of open shelves and furniture with a thin tubular structure, made of carbon steel, also helped to reinforce this light atmosphere”, comments Thiago Morsch , partner architect at Up3. The kitchen's biggest difference is, without a doubt, the light wood cladding that covers the entire space – floor, walls and ceiling, giving the sensation of a large box that, at times, mimics the cabinets, made of the same material. Another great highlight of the kitchen are the folding doors, made of white metalwork with sandblasted glass , which allow it to be fully integrated into the social area or isolated, when necessary, without compromising the passage of natural light. In the master suite, the curved wood panel with a white lacquer finish is the focal point of the room. In addition to mimicking the bathroom door, this feature has made the space more homogeneous, fluid, minimalist, light and sophisticated. . In the son's room, it is worth highlighting, on one side, the personalized white drawing of an astronaut applied to the dark panel, which invades the wall, painted in the same tone as the carpentry; on the other side, behind the study bench, the perforated panel that, in addition to being an aesthetic element, is quite functional for the teenager's daily life. Finally, in the baby's room, the highlight is the two-tone wall with frames that simulate boiseries and make the space fun and elegant at the same time.