The retrofit project of the Hotel Nacional was challenging on several fronts.

​

Closed for over 20 years, the building designed by Oscar Niemeyer—one of only three recognized for this type of use—was once one of the greatest icons of luxury hospitality in Latin America.

​

With more than 80,000 square meters of built area, it included a hotel with 550 rooms, restaurants, a convention center, and one of the most important theaters in Rio de Janeiro between the 1970s and 1990s, hosting performances by major national and international stars.

​

The Brazilian branch of VOA Associates, under the leadership of Eduardo Manzano and Marcos Leite Bastos, was responsible for the building’s retrofit and the interior design project.