Contemporary Heritage: Lisbon Apartment Renovation by Aurora Arquitectos.

Lisbon-based Aurora Arquitectos have renovated this heritage apartment to create a space that feels both transformed and unchanged. The design concept for the project is best described in the following statement by the architects: “It is from the constant dialogue between the previous elements and the new ones, that the creation of unexpected possibilities emerges. A kind of palimpsest as a way of rethinking and challenging the pre-established functions and relationships, from dwellers to architecture itself.”

Most of the original bones were preserved, with major interventions created via two walls opening which were deliberated delineated in different materials—in the living room, these outlines are highlighted by a timber frame and brass strip on the floor—joining three different rooms to achieve a continuous flow. The master bedroom also received a contemporary take on the partition wall, which curves around the original timber skirting and ceiling cornices, also avoiding the original timber wall panelling. The overall effect merges the future and the past, achieving a striking, singular aesthetic.

This aesthetic extends into the knockout kitchen which features original blue and white tiles and salmon marble floors. “The way we worked on the kitchen’s tiled surfaces shows the desire to highlight the differences between the original traits and the intervention. Apart from allowing a sense of continuity in the renovation process, it also provides contrast with the juxtaposed new elements”, explain the architects.

Related Post: Minimalism Meets Pink Marble & Heritage Tiles at NANA Apartment in Lisbon by rar.studio.

[Images courtesy of Aurora Arquitectos. Photography © Do Mal o Menos.]