This São Paulo apartment was designed for content creators, and it’s certainly camera ready

This is the latest instalment of The Inside Story, Wallpaper’s series spotlighting intriguing, innovative and industry-leading interior design.

It’s 2025, and designers are being tasked with creating homes for content creators – the newest subset of clientele with cash to flash and aesthetics to consider.

That was the challenge Brazilian architecture firm Gurgel D’Alfonso Arquitetura embraced when commissioned to design a home for a family of culinary content creators. The couple, who run a YouTube channel, needed a space that would integrate their family life and their work.

The result is the Fidalga Apartment, a penthouse in São Paulo’s Vila Madalena neighbourhood. In the home’s natural light and soaring ceilings, the couple saw the potential for both comfort and camera-readiness.

The first job of a renovation was to make the kitchen the anchor of the home. Walls were removed to create an open, continuous space for cooking, filming and dining. At its centre is the undeniable showstopper: an epic Vitória Régia quartzite island. Surrounding this are layers of natural materials like warm woods and stone, offset by industrial touches like stainless steel. Also vying for the attention of observers: gleaming gold brass cabinetry.

In the living room, a custom masonry bookshelf, accented with Sucupira wood, incorporates the air conditioning duct – the home is full of such clever design quirks; elsewhere, large windows and breeze block partitions significantly reduce reliance on artificial lighting. The window frames match the wood of the freestanding furniture, which comprises a mix of family heirlooms and modern design, including restored Sergio Rodrigues chairs, an armchair by Luisa Attab and side tables by Maximiliano Crovato.

Upstairs – home to the bedrooms and a home office – the architectural language shifts. It feels airier, with the exposed gabled roof enhancing ceiling height, while the decor leans softer, filled with simple forms. The office is home to a light blue epoxy floor and a Sucupira wood desk.

The primary suite revolves around a built-in central volume made from Virolinha plywood. This multifunctional unit integrates the bed, headboard, closet, TV lounge and storage, flanked by stainless steel Formica bedside modules. A carpeted base forms a step, and doubles to conceal electrical systems – another example of the home’s clean, smart detailing. Finally, the bathroom is clad in terracotta-hued ceramic tiles with a monolithic floor that flows into a concrete soaking tub.

As the lines between work and home continue to blur, our living spaces are evolving to reflect this shift. The Fidalga Apartment is a set for both daily life and on-screen action, showing that, in 2025, architecture is as much about flexibility as it is about aesthetics.