Enjoy unique moments every day. An ideal of balance based on noble materials and minimalist occupation. This is how the feeling of living in this 600 m2 duplex apartment, home to a young couple and their two children, designed by Fernanda Marques, in São Paulo, can be described. In constructive terms, another successful retrofit operation led by the architect, which provided the property with wider and better integrated environments, with the city’s vibrant skyline as a backdrop.

Distributed on two levels, the project concentrates on its first floor the suites for the couple and their children, in addition to the home kids. The true nerve center of the house, it is on the upper floor, however, that most of the family action takes place. In addition to the large kitchen and the large gourmet space, there is the living room – made up of sectors that alternate between relaxation areas and dining spaces – and the home theater. More than enough reasons to make it the meeting point of the house.

“Light plays an essential role in these interiors. Living amidst lots of light is part of the very essence of the couple of residents, declared lovers of surfing. A passion that they are gradually transferring to their children”, explains Fernanda, in front of one of the best kept family relics: a board made by none other than the mythical Hawaiian shaper Dick Brewer, especially for the owner, which today occupies a prominent place in the stair decoration.

Driven by the objective of increasing the lighting conditions on both levels of the house as much as possible, it was natural that the architect adopted reflective and transparent surfaces in almost the entire project. From wood to marble, invariably used in tones close to raw, an abundance of glazed surfaces spread throughout the upper floor. “The closer they are to natural, the greater the sensorial quality of the materials”, says Fernanda.

Almost austere in their minimalist simplicity, throughout the apartment environments follow one another harmoniously, without major disruptions. “My client definitely wanted to live in soft environments, which convey lightness to those who frequent them”, says the architect who, when selecting the furniture, decided to use a well-balanced combination of contemporary and vintage pieces, creating specific focal points of design. As happens, for example, in the core that contains the dining table and sculptural pendant.

Putting the couple’s collection of works of art in the spotlight – they have pieces by Gabriela Costa, Ricardo Rendon, Arthur Lescher and Angelo Venosa, among others – was another of the architect’s concerns. On the upper floor, for example, with the exception of the pendant over the table, the construction conditions did not allow the use of technical luminaires, leading Fernanda to opt for floor equipment. “The result exceeded my expectations. I love the effect produced by the green walls and the American oak slatted panels when lit,” she concludes.