The building has two great façades, one towards the street and another one towards the back of it, both with unobstructed views, and only one apartment per floor. This allows for excellent lighting and ventilation conditions, as well as connection with the outside through two balconies, one on each facade. Also, since the building is located on a street perpendicular to the city’s main street, the current Barão do Monte Alto, which follows the conventional East-West historical layout, the two balconies are perfectly oriented towards sunrise and sunset.
The main modifications of the renovation were the replacement of one of the bedrooms with the kitchen and the relocation of the guest bathroom to the area where the laundry and service rooms were located, thus completely transforming the interior. The common area of the apartment, comprising the living room, kitchen and office, now has a view and access to both facades, also improving cross ventilation. The presence of several windows of different shapes, sizes and heights makes the interior rich in light inputs. From inside this space, it is possible to see the sunrise and sunset, which now crosses the apartment. The new kitchen has greater prominence, located in the centre of the house and opened to the living room. The entrance hall, office and bathtub area were also opened to the central space, making these rooms more pleasant for everyday use, but able to be closed when necessary. The two rooms also have several windows and doors, some existing and some new, significantly increasing their spaciousness and connection with the outside.
Other strategies complement the apartment’s interior design. The three planters, for example, mark transition spaces, such as in the passage from the living room to more intimate spaces, or when entering the apartment. The wooden parquet floors of the existing rooms were maintained whenever possible, thus creating drawings on the floor of the new layout. From these drawings, new partitions, planters, benches, and forms in the ceiling emerge. The removed wooden blocks were reused to create tabletops and some of the benches.
The main materials used were the original wooden blocks, handcrafted tiles, burned cement and coloured plaster made on site for the ceilings, floor and walls.