Lisbon Castle Apartment

 

“Breathes design, personality and has an incredible identity” by Interiores Magazine, April 23

 
 

This is how it started, this amazing project that Sergio Prieto and Tiago De Lima choose in Lisbon in 2022. “We began to question some details about the last owner of the apartment, and it was amazing to discover that the former owner was an elderly woman who lived alone and who had set up several hairdressers in Lisbon. When we entered the house, still furnished, it had a small side table next to a window in the living room and had a landline telephone and a chair. We immediately imagined the hours that the lady would have spent on the phone while enjoying city life through the window. It was an image that has always marked us.”

 
 
 
 

This apartment has 77m2, spread over 5 main rooms: living room, kitchen, master bathroom, suite (with additional bathroom + small closet) and another bedroom. The building was built in 1937 and still preserves its original architecture, having only been maintained through minor interventions. In case of this apartment, after its initial construction, the main bathroom was built excavated in the back wall of the building and also in the adjacent mountain.

 
 

This was a complete refurbishment project by our Interior Design and Furnishing studio, DOVAIN STUDIO. We intervened in all rooms, pipes, electricity, floors, walls and ceiling because the apartment had been closed and without maintenance for some years. In the 70s, it underwent some remodeling that placed smaller doors and also lowered the ceilings of the rooms. We wanted to recover its original layout. “The main challenge was to preserve and enhance the apartment's initial Pombaline style and decorate it with my own style and with my own pieces, in a more youthful, colorful and contemporary tone”. Some examples were: the recovery of the ceiling moldings, some of them almost entirety; raising the entrance to the bathroom (it was very low, as a result of the excavation carried out in the rear wall of the building); the construction of a new bathroom and a small closet in the master bedroom to create a suite and add more value to the apartment.

 
 

The primary division of this apartment is the living room due to its spaciousness, light and stunning views.

Through the colors and materials we manage to bring warmth and joy to the space, but also a serenity that makes the room relaxing and protective against the hustle and bustle of the city centre.

Simplicity in shapes, contrast in colors, quality in materials and an artistic touch that mixes everything and transforms it. This is how we create spaces

 
 

This apartment was designed for a young couple due to the geographical characteristics in which it was located. Despite being surrounded by old and refined villas and mansions, with peacocks walking through the streets that surround the Castle, a few streets away, we could enter the neighborhood and traditional life of Alfama, listening to fado in every corner. The proximity to tourist sites make this place a precious gem.

 
 
 

"From the beginning, the desire to preserve and enhance the initial Pombaline style of this building from 1937 was clear, but making a small aesthetic touch, decorating with my traits, with my DNA" Says Sergio Prieto in his interview for the magazine Caras Decoration of June 23 where was the cover article. In this sense, we tried to apply jovial, fresh colors, give an irreverent touch and emphasize the landscape, bringing the wonderful colors of the view into the interior of the apartment. The view and the reflected light of the city were the great inspiration for this project. In this sense, the most used colors were pastel tones with some less frequent contrasting colors (for example the small details in red). Wood, velvet, linen and tiles are the main materials used.

 

We created a new suite in this apartment to provide greater comfort to the couple and enhance the value of the apartment.

A shower area was created with a direct view of the exterior windows, allowing you to enjoy views over the city of Lisbon.

In this smaller space, we use more challenging colors that make the space more fun.

 
 

In the kitchen we use elegant and timeless colors

Decoration plays a fundamental role in transforming this workspace into a fun and comfortable environment.

Irregular painting is part of Sergio Prieto's passions, which we can see in the second room

 
 

Part of the furniture shown belongs to our collection of furniture pieces from DOVAIN, all of them designed by Sergio Prieto and manufactured in Portugal by different artisans. Some pieces were acquired at the "Feira da Ladra" in Lisbon acquired in recent years. The concrete pieces are by TOSCO studio, the pillows by Elitis, the living room rug by The Blue Boy. Most of the art pieces are by Spanish artists. The paintings in the living room were created by Sergio Prieto, already sold to a private client. Some paintings and a collage are by artist Albert Madaula. Some ceramic pieces were created by the artist Ana Rod. There is also a special piece, painted by Jacob Vilató during a dinner at the Guggenheim Museum that is part of the personal collection of Sergio Prieto. Then we have some Portuguese pieces by Vista Alegre, Bordalo Pinheiro and Demaneirasque.