How They Pulled It Off: A Mirrored Portal Between Two Rooms

Welcome to How They Pulled It Off, where we take a close look at one particularly challenging aspect of a home design and get the nitty-gritty details about how it became a reality.

Like many typical apartments in Lisbon, at 100 square meters, the millennial pink-hued Lisbon apartment recently redesigned by Aurora Arquitectos was relatively small and in an old building. So the studio founded by Sérgio Antunes and Sofia Couto dreamed up a clever way to make it feel larger: a mirrored console that opens 180 degrees between two rooms and functions more like an art installation than a typical architectural feature meant to maximize a small space.

"We tried to do something that really contrasts with the original language of the building," Antunes says, noting that buildings in the area can be 500 to 600 years old and in a constant stage of revision. "We wanted to have a connection between the two rooms." So the idea of a whimsical window came into play.

Situated between a living room and a smaller office space, when the blush-colored console is closed, it looks like something that might hang in a gallery. When it’s open, your eyes play tricks on you, and you can’t help but wonder whether you are looking at two mirrors. It takes a minute to adjust, and realize the feature is providing an actual portal between two rooms with a little shelf unit on the office side. It’s an unconventional approach. Here, Antunes explains how it came to life.

How they pulled it off: A mirrored portal between two rooms

• The first step was the idea behind the piece. "I wanted to do something that was a completely alien approach. The idea was to do a special sculpture. We have all these references from American Minimalists," Antunes says, specifically citing artist Ellsworth Kelly, whose exhibit he recently saw in Paris. 

• Next came the concept: "When the piece is closed, there’s no depth. But when you open it, the mirror creates a full circle." There’s also a little functional cabinet on the office side.

• It’s certainly unconventional, and Antunes says an important part—and difficult—part of the process was convincing the client to agree.

• The actual execution wasn’t hard, he says. "In Portugal, we have still have a tradition of crafts. Everything is still custom made." So a carpenter, measured, made, and custom installed the piece, which is around three feet wide when open.