A young couple's first apartment is something significant in their lives, and our clients were no different. They purchased a garden apartment in the Mercês neighborhood, in Curitiba, however, it is not a typical one. Due to the topography of the building's site, the apartment is located above ground level, providing residents with a privileged view of the city center. Another point that draws attention is its internal ceiling height of approximately 4 meters.
The existing floor plan was renovated to suit the couple's needs, seeking to enhance the social area and its special ceiling height. The original plan had a volume built in front of the access, housing the toilet and laundry room, so we chose to remove this volume and incorporate the toilet next to the bathroom of one of the suites, expanding the internal space of this same bedroom to transform it in a double office for the couple, one of their main demands. Another adjustment was to take the laundry room to the outside area of the apartment, so the living room became a totally integrated and obstacle-free environment, perfect for the couple to gather friends and family.
The biggest challenge was to harmonize the joinery volumes of the hall, kitchen, dining and living room, in a unified logic, capable of sectorizing and, at the same time, integrating the apartment. Along the kitchen wall, we intersperse tall volumes of cabinets in a woody finish, with volumes composed of countertops and floating cabinets in an ebonized and light gray finish - combined with the ultra-compact stone cladding on the walls. Thus, creating more friendly rhythm and proportions for the space. Meanwhile, on the other side, a slatted panel creates shadow and texture on the wider plane of the apartment. This plane is interrupted only by a vertical strip painted in green, which marks the access to the intimate area.
This same slatted element appears again in internal environments, in other heights and materials, creating a subtle connection between the environments. In total, the apartment has a material palette made up of three elements: wood, white - gray - and black. This composition changes only in the punctuation of some colors, especially green, a special color for our client that has been with her since her first apartment. With that, we were able to meet the couple's expectations for their first home with a welcoming and social apartment.
