To separate the kitchen from the living room without the need for a partition, DC.AD created a partially-open metal shelf with built-in storage on the bottom half.
Jose Miguel's perched pied-à-terre
This Guided Tour is from Sloft Edition 02.
If you want to make the most of Lisbon’s sunny weather and be close to the hippest neighborhoods, nothing beats a duplex! "The apartment is near the Santos-O-Velho church and the French embassy, in a historical neighborhood in the city center. Over the past few years, it’s turned into a favorite amongst expats looking to settle down. It’s become more and more expensive to live here and it’s also one of the coolest places in the capital," explains Duarte Caldas, who is overseeing the renovation project.
The duplex spans the upper two floors of a three-story construction built at the beginning of the 20th century. "Jose Miguel is Portuguese but he currently lives in Mozambique. He wanted to have a holiday apartment where he could stay when visiting Lisbon. The idea was to create a clean, minimalist space with a large living room and an open kitchen, as well as a bedroom with an en suite bathroom." The advantage of having two floors is that it is easy to separate the social and private areas. On the lower level, all separating walls have been removed to create one single space featuring the living room, dining room and kitchen. Indeed, "this project’s main challenge has been to meet all the needs in such a small volume. The existing layout had lots of separate spaces and we had to knock down most of the dividing walls in order to completely reorganize the space." To achieve this, a system of metal post and beams were used to reinforce the structure of the apartment. Left exposed, these new elements cleverly demarcate the space’s different functions.
The same approach is applied to the upper level, where everything feels incredibly open. For the architect, "the aim of the project is to make the space lighter by creating spacious areas which interact with one another to create a fluid movement." Therefore, instead of a traditional door, the bathroom features two pink acrylic panels that create a semi-transparent effect with colored light filtering through. They give onto a freestanding piece of furniture fitted with a metal sink around which you can move freely. The different functions are therefore separated visually, but they never disrupt the user’s movements.
Bedhead Bookshelf Marble Metal Niche Open kitchen Plants Terrace Tiles Wood
Photos : Francisco Nogueira
Text : Laurie Picout
Architect : DC-AD
