Located in the historic heart of Lisbon, on the charming Rua de São Bento, the "São Bento Apartment" project by Atelier Bruno Câmara Arquitectos was born from an invitation from a Northern European couple with two children who desired a home for their frequent trips to Lisbon. The project consists of the remodeling and conversion of an old apartment in a century-old building into a more contemporary dwelling.

Since its Pombaline construction, Rua de São Bento has been a vital axis of bourgeois Lisbon, housing small palaces and buildings of notable architectural value. The master builders and artisans who shaped this street, imbued with the spirit of the era, sought to harmonize functionality with aesthetics, anticipating the trends of their time. They valued the intrinsic characteristics of materials, such as solid wood and stone, using them as distinctive elements in a space where light and proportion are the protagonists.

Bruno Câmara, the project's author, who with his team, reinterpreted and adapted the concept of living in an apartment in a century-old building. The designed apartment comprises a suite, two bedrooms (one on the upper floor), a kitchen, and a living room, following a minimalist aesthetic with decoration devoid of excessive information, featuring custom-designed and integrated fixed furniture. The project's concept is defined by the formalization of a continuous element of light that unifies the space between the two facades and by the opening of skylights, illuminating the kitchen and living area, as well as the upper floor, making the most of natural light, expanding the space, and inviting us to linger.

This creates a unique spatiality and reinterprets the new cosmopolitan way of living in this historic area of Lisbon, within a century-old building. The walls and furniture remain neutral, preserving the texture of the original walls and using dark Ruivina marble, a Portuguese stone with unique veins, in wet areas. This seeks a balanced contrast, a chromatic subtraction, enhanced by the contrast of the solid wood flooring, which also serves as a connecting element between the different spaces characterized by the simplicity of lines. In the bathrooms, the Ruivina marble becomes the central element through the use of large slabs, allowing for a visual reading of its veining composition. Through its use and a new spatial arrangement, the areas are given the individuality of the stone, which differs in each piece, exposing the true grandeur of the material.

The city of Lisbon, with its vibrant energy and rich cultural heritage, is undergoing a renaissance in the 21st century. The renovation of this apartment on Rua de São Bento symbolizes the preservation of history and adaptation to the future, creating a space where tradition and modernity meet in perfect harmony.