Rosa Apartment

The Rosa Apartment stems from an update of the modern apartment layout for contemporary living, alongside an appreciation of the structure that shapes the space.

A young couple with their young daughter approached CODA to assist in renovating their new apartment, aiming to adapt the space to the family’s needs. The new program eliminated the maid’s quarters and one of the three original bedrooms, introducing instead a suite, a home office integrated into the living area, and a kitchen oriented toward the social spaces.

As the key element of the project, the living area was reconfigured to incorporate both the kitchen and one of the former bedrooms, resulting in a large and flexible space. This environment accommodates living, dining, cinema, workspace, and kitchen functions. The boundaries between these uses are defined by concrete columns and beams, exposed during construction. To house the couple’s extensive book collection—both are academics—two fixed elements were designed: shelving above the office desk and niches beneath a concrete bench built along the main window.

The result is a living space with few fixed elements, allowing for flexibility of use, including the possibility of projecting films onto a white wall, arranging the space as a TV-free living room, or accommodating larger dining gatherings.

The service areas were optimized along the rear façade, including a complete overhaul of the plumbing and electrical systems. The layout was reorganized to accommodate two nearly identical bathrooms—one serving the living area and the other the suite. The laundry area was relocated behind the kitchen, freeing the existing cobogó screen to be visible from the living room and enabling direct cross ventilation throughout the social areas.

Material selection was guided both by aesthetic considerations—a preference for natural elements, aligned with the clients’ tastes—and by construction feasibility. The number of finishes was intentionally minimized, emphasizing those already present in the space, such as the exposed concrete structure, the cobogó façade elements, and the wooden parquet flooring in Peroba Rosa, which gives the apartment its name.