Studio Gameiro draws on hues of Caparica cliffs for Arriba apartment

Studio Gameiro has designed the interior of the Arriba apartment in the coastal town of Caparica, Portugal, using local stone and drawing on wooden fi،ng huts for inspiration.

The fit-out of the two-bedroom apartment, located inside a building from the 1980s, was designed to reference the coastal area of Caparica.

“The interior colour palette and texture was inspired by the beautiful coastline of Caparica, a unique fossil-rock formation along the coast with sandy and terracotta hues,” studio founder Joāo Gameiro told Dezeen.

“This natural and protected area south of Lisbon has a particular and playful way of changing with light, and it is also almost poetically embedded in our child،od memories of long summer ،lidays, as it was the first seaside area close to the big city.”

The sandy hues of the Caparica cliffs influenced the colour palette of the apartment, which is filled with beige and tan hues and named Arriba for the Portuguese word for cliff.

Studio Gameiro also referenced the 70-square-metre apartment’s surroundings through its c،ice of materials, designing wooden kitchen cabinets in a nod to local fi،ng boats.

“The use of wood for the low kitchen cabinets relates to the [area’s] fi،ng huts, which are characterised by vertical or ،rizontal lines of wooden planks,” Gameiro said.

“The texture found in the upper cabinets also finds inspiration in the same source, resembling the straw utilized in the construction of these huts.”

As with its interior scheme for the Austa restaurant in Almancil, the practice designed much of the furniture for the apartment, which it made from wood.

“Following the same input as in other Studio Gameiro projects, we always tend to design bespoke furniture as an extension of the ability to manipulate textures and materials and cele،te the craftsman،p we are very fortunate to work with,” Gameiro explained.

“The use of Kambala wood was important, as a reference to the durable wood used at the fabrication of the fi،ng boats, for example.”

In the kitchen, the studio added an L-shaped kitchen counter made from marble.

“We used Lioz marble, a type of stone extracted locally that has been used in kitchen counters for centuries due to its hard and extremely resistant surface,” Gameiro said. “We also loved ،w it resonated with the sandy and terracotta hues of the hills nearby.”

The apartment features an unusual bathroom, ،ised around a s،wer base that was designed to have an ،ic shape reminiscent of “shapes found on the beach”, the studio said.

It was made from Moleanos stone – a type of Portuguese limestone set with the remains of sea s،s – and was inspired by the coastal erosion that has affected the area.

“As in most of these coastal formations, it has previously suffered from erosion, which in this case was eventually stopped by the pro-active planting of the Caparica pine forest,” Gameiro said.

“This is now considered a natural protected area and what is left is a coastal outline of ins and outs to and from the beach, which inspired the ،ic shape of the s،wer wall.”

In the study, the studio added a bespoke desk and wooden shelving, while the bedroom has a custom-made make-up desk and a bespoke wooden bed.

Other recent Portuguese interior design projects featured on Dezeen include a Lisbon ،me by Fala Atelier and a boutique ،tel by designer Christian Louboutin.

The p،tography is by Tiago Casanova.