Sabará Arquitetura Renovates 1960s São Paulo Apartment, Preserving Original Character

Key facts

• Sabará Arquitetura renovated an apartment in São Paulo's Queen Mary building, designed by Jozef Engelberg and Pedro Mahler.
• The renovation integrated the kitchen with the former pantry and added a sliding steel-framed door in fluted glass.
• The laundry room was expanded, and both bathrooms were rebuilt, with the second extending into former service quarters.
• Enlarged windows on the rear façade bring daylight into previously dim rooms.
• One of three original bedrooms became a home office, another a guest room, and the primary suite expanded into the former service area.
• A discreet cat door connects the kitchen and laundry room.
• Yellow ceramic tiles in the kitchen reference the building's façade, and white hexagonal tiles with a black floral motif run from kitchen to laundry.
• Each bathroom has its own palette: blue, green, and pink in the powder room.
• Original parquet flooring was restored, and new joinery was finished in natural pau-ferro veneer.
• The project was completed in 2025.
• The renovation is compared to (CYRO)Arquitetura's Ruído Branco and Arthur Casas's São Paulo apartment.