Located in the Avenidas Novas parish, between Avenida de Berna and Avenida Marquês de Tomar, the Avenida de Berna Apartment project intervenes in a corner building set within one of Lisbon’s most emblematic architectural contexts. This area is characterised by eclectic residential buildings and palacetes from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as landmark works by architects such as Ventura Terra, Pardal Monteiro, Norte Júnior and Cassiano Branco. Commissioned by a Lisbon family, the renovation sought to adapt the apartment to contemporary living while preserving the historical identity of both the building and the neighbourhood.

The intervention maintains the essential character of Avenidas Novas, restoring original elements such as carpentry, doors and skirtings, while introducing contemporary gestures including indirect lighting and minimalist built-in furniture. The project reorganises the previously compartmentalised layout, marked by small rooms and inefficient circulations, freeing the space through selective demolition to create a generous social area directly connected to the kitchen through an oblique opening, redefining circulation, spatiality and the relationship with natural light.

Grounded in the principles of demolishing to create and recovering through reintegration, the project articulates noble materials such as solid wood and Estremoz marble, giving coherence and identity to the whole. With 158 m², a four-bedroom typology and a master suite, the apartment now offers a renewed spatial experience shaped by natural light entering through its two façades, symbolising a new way of living in Avenidas Novas that harmonises architectural heritage with contemporary habitation.

Team

Bruno Câmara, Andrei Barros, Íris Pedro, João Câmara, Miguel Vieira da Silva, Paulo Silva Nunes, Miguel Calado