The Tania Bulhões flagship on Avenida Europa redefines the retail experience by merging commerce, gastronomy, and heritage preservation into a single architectural statement. Originally a 1970s residence with classical features, the building was carefully renovated to preserve its historical character – vaulted ceilings, a central domus, and ornamental details – while introducing a contemporary interior program that combines a concept store with a restaurant.
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Global Future Design Awards 2025
Tania Bulhões Flagship
Lighting Design (Built)
Firm
Foco Luz e Desenho
Architect/Designer
Ana Karina Camasmie & Junia Azenha
Design Team
Ana Karina Camasmie, Junia Azenha, Camila Concer, Clara Mezejewski, Lais Ribeiro, Giovanni Grigio, Jonatas Oliveira, Bruna Alves
Location
São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Country
Brazil
Photographer/Copyright
©Guilherme Castro & Fran Parente
Website
N/A
Instagram
N/A
Facebook
N/A
Whatsapp
N/A
The lighting design became the core mediator between past and present, shaping atmospheres that balance functionality and emotion. The client’s main request was to create a flexible system capable of highlighting products with precision while maintaining a warm, welcoming environment. This demanded an approach that integrated diffuse and accent lighting, adaptable to diverse spatial scales and materials.
On the ground floor, a tensile fabric ceiling with integrated backlighting creates homogeneous diffuse light, softening the low ceiling height. LED projectors mounted on discreet tracks provide product highlights, while embedded furniture lighting enhances visibility without visual clutter. In adjacent areas, the diffuse layer shifts to perimeter coves and curtain recesses, extending light both inward and outward.
The restaurant presented the most significant challenge: a double-height space capped by a glass dome where direct overhead lighting was impossible. The solution combined indirect LED profiles tracing the dome’s edges, decorative table lamps offering localized intimacy, and perimeter coves that maintained an ambient glow. This strategy avoided intrusive fixtures while delivering visual comfort and a sense of belonging.
In the wine lounge, a mirrored ceiling created an optical void, absorbing light rather than reflecting it. To counter this, perimeter coves washed the walls with soft light, while embedded projectors provided targeted accents, restoring balance in a space that could easily collapse into darkness.
Throughout the project, the lighting interacts with multiple materials – wood, glass, metal – requiring precise calibration of intensity and color temperature to avoid glare or unwanted reflections. Exterior lighting was deliberately minimal: subtle highlights on pilasters and cornices underscore the classical volumetry without competing with the architecture.
This project exemplifies adaptability at multiple levels: the transformation of a private residence into a multifunctional flagship, the fusion of retail and dining into a single spatial narrative, and the coexistence of classical architecture with contemporary light design. By treating light as both a technical and emotional medium, the design team translated brand identity into spatial experience, ensuring comfort, elegance, and precision coexist. Beyond its commercial role, the flagship contributes to the cultural fabric of São Paulo. It demonstrates how architecture can evolve without erasure, offering a model of urban reuse that respects memory while embracing innovation. The project illustrates how light, when orchestrated with intent, can reconcile architectural heritage with contemporary demands, generating spaces that are not only functional but transformative.
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