The project is the result of a municipal license for a change of use, i.e. the refurbishment of a fraction for commercial use (office) to residential use, where it was possible to fit in 2 three-bedroom apartments, with a total gross area of 220m2.
As a starting point for projects of this type, it is essential to consult the Municipal Archives and the Lisbon City Council, to look for background information and the legal framework for a change of use project.
Refurbishing an office space openspace for two three-bedroom apartments spread over 220m2 required a long creative and technical process. The fact that there were already two separate accesses (left and right) made it easier to study the functional organization and entrance to the apartments. The premise of having two very functional, contemporary apartments with simple, timeless lines and plenty of light was achieved.
The client's brief was explicit in relation to the high standard of quality of the finishing materials required for this refurbishment. All the spaces and finishes were chosen and designed in detail to ensure that the refurbishment work was carried out to the highest standard.
At the distribution level, a central core clad in oak wood paneling was created, with a guest bathroom, laundry room and storage, all accessible through doors hidden in the paneling. This core is the hinge that separates the social area from the private area of the apartments.
The floors in the bedrooms, living rooms and kitchens are made of oak wood flooring with a chevron pattern, the floors and walls in the bathrooms are partially covered in Kerlite ceramic flooring, the direct and indirect artificial lighting was the subject of a lighting comfort study, the option of full-length doors up to the ceiling and the choice of handles by Siza Vieira, followed the contemporary language of the brief. Storage was extensively studied and optimized in every possible space. Furniture designed and adapted to the existing space. The solution found for the air conditioning, since the aim was for the space to be visually clean of technical equipment, was a linear grid solution on the wall with machines inserted into the tops of the closets.
Since the remodeling work on the building's façade was minimal, it focused solely on changing the back of an old garage door into a bay window.
