Sergipe Apartment — Terra Arquitetura renovates a 230 m² apartment in Higienópolis
A full renovation reconfigures a traditional São Paulo apartment to modern living while keeping its large rooms, clear structure, and abundant natural light.
Useful takeaways from this story.
Layout opened to replace an overly compartmentalized plan while preserving generous room proportions and original structural clarity.
Design builds on existing strengths — large rooms and abundant daylight — rather than erasing the building’s character.
# Project snapshot
Sergipe Apartment is a 230-square-meter renovation in a traditional building in the Higienópolis neighborhood of São Paulo. Terra Arquitetura reworked the apartment's layout to suit contemporary living while retaining what already worked: generous room sizes, a well-resolved structural grid, and strong natural light.
# The problem the architects addressed
The original apartment had qualities that the residents valued but also had problems common to older flats: an overly compartmentalized floor plan and finishes that no longer matched occupants' needs. Terra Arquitetura's brief was to adapt the interior for today's lifestyle without discarding the positive spatial and structural features of the existing construction.
# Design approach and strategies
Terra Arquitetura developed a concept that builds on the apartment's existing strengths. The approach can be summarized in three moves:
- Keep the spatial generosity: the large rooms and clear structural logic were preserved rather than replaced.
- Reconfigure circulation and partitions: the team opened up or relocated partitions to reduce excessive compartmentalization and improve how the apartment flows for modern use.
- Update finishes and systems: contemporary fittings and materials were introduced to align the interiors with the residents' preferences.
Manufacturers and specialists listed for the project include Concresteel, Deca, Donata Brazilian Stones, JC Cortinas e Cia, Keramika, Marcenaria Avelarte, Montana Marcenaria, Nani Chinellato, Pedras Morumbi, Portobello Shop, Reka Iluminação, SANTA MADEIRA, Serralheria Genesis, and Zara Home. Civil engineering was provided by PG2 Engenharia.
# Spatial outcome
The resulting apartment kept the strong daylight and structural clarity that define the original building, while creating a more open, contemporary plan. The update focused on daily use: clearer social areas, more flexible connections between rooms, and contemporary bathroom and kitchen fittings. The architects avoided overwriting the building's character, opting instead to adapt at the scale of partitions and finishes.
# Visual and material choices
# Why this matters for renovations in traditional buildings
Sergipe Apartment shows an approach that many renovators will find useful: identify and preserve structural and spatial assets, then selectively intervene where the plan and finishes impede contemporary use. The project provides a practical example of adaptive reuse at the apartment scale in an established São Paulo neighborhood.
# Takeaway for owners and architects
Owners: preserve what makes an older apartment feel spacious and daylight-rich, and focus interventions where daily routines are constrained by the layout.
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