BMB Apartment | Voa Arquitetura

The reorganization of the floor plan and the valorization of exposed structures guided the renovation of Apartamento BMB, designed by VOA Arquitetura. Spanning 130 m², the apartment was conceived around a brutalist aesthetic and a program that brings together a living room, home office, dining area, and a dedicated space for the residents' bar and vinyl record collection.

Originally divided into small compartments, the apartment lacked sufficient natural light and did not meet the residents' everyday needs. The intervention expanded the social area by incorporating one of the bedrooms, creating a single, unified space capable of accommodating different uses throughout the day.

To strengthen the connection between the rooms, the walls separating the kitchen were removed. In their place, a large countertop with a sand-toned finish now articulates the spaces, functioning as a transitional element between the kitchen and the social area.

The brutalist aesthetic is expressed through the raw quality of the design, which foregrounds exposed concrete surfaces and volumes. In counterpoint, the choice of natural materials lends warmth to the composition: plastered walls and ceiling, wood — a recurring element in the studio's work — and Guatemalan marble, whose greenish tone reinforces the presence of nature within the apartment.

The relationship between past and present runs through the project as a guiding premise. The original ipê wood flooring from the 1970s was preserved and restored. Furniture belonging to the previous residents was recovered and reintegrated into the space, coexisting with contemporary pieces and works by Brazilian designer Sergio Rodrigues — a duality that shapes the apartment's identity without erasing its history.

Among the furniture pieces, the dining table stands out: designed by the studio itself and present in other VOA projects, its original wooden top was here replaced with glass — a decision that highlights the Alvar Aalto-inspired base and reinforces the dialogue between reference and reinterpretation that runs throughout the project.

A palette of warm, neutral tones sustains an atmosphere of calm and restraint. The textures of the different materials build visual interest throughout the space, which was designed to gain layers over time: the residents chose to leave walls intentionally bare, so that artworks and objects with history can be incorporated gradually into daily life.

The result is an apartment where brutalism, memory, and materiality come together to create a domestic experience defined by permanence and the accumulation of meaning.

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Project Sheet

Project: Apartamento BMB (BMB Apartment)

Architecture and interiors: VOA Arquitetura