Flat Refurbishment in Coimbra
The clients chose to buy the apartment due to its location and not for its architecture, despite the undoubted quality of the built-up area where it is found.
The typology of the apartment was marked by a lack of proportion between the original utility rooms – kitchen, laundry room, etc – and living spaces, which reflected the use in times gone by, but are now poorly suited for their intended use.
The interior of the apartment was completely reformulated, eliminating the inner partitioning, redesigning the space in order to implement the new functional programme in accordance with contemporary standards of comfort.
The house is organised around a central space – the entrance hall – from which all areas can be accessed, and onto which all circulation converges, thereby eliminating all existing corridors and circulation paths. The hall is a space to arrive in, but also a space where one can be. Its size is adequate for a welcoming space, but it is also an extension of the living room and the bedrooms. The walls and the ceiling are entirely covered in wood, disguising the doors that give access to the remaining spaces and wardrobes.
The wooden floor extends to the rooms and living areas, affording a sense of continuity. In the remaining spaces the floor is made out of white Calacatta marble.
The furniture is an integral part of the architecture: in the bedrooms the wardrobes are located around the doors and windows, and reduce the height of the passageways. The tabletop running along the wall in the living room goes through a small window opening, with line of sight through to the hall. The cabinet in the en-suite bathroom also includes a window with view through to the bedroom.
The kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms are functional spaces with an abstract character, featuring a stone floor and almost exclusively white furniture.
The wooden window frames were redesigned so as to deliver improved thermal and acoustic comfort, and the external blinds were made with wooden slats identical to the originals.
The resulting atmosphere derives from a process of simplification where the materials – white marble and wood – play a key role in creating a homely ambiance.
