Check into São Paulo's long-awaited Soho House

There are few better locations in São Paulo than Avenida Paulista, with its sexy Seventies architecture and skateboarding shoppers. One might be the new location of Soho House, set one block back from the boulevard, on a quiet, leafy street once occupied by the historic Matarazzo Hospital. The cluster of Italianate maternity wards – named for Count Matarazzo, who opened them in 1904 – has been redeveloped as Cidade Matarazzo, with Soho House as one of its flagship destinations.

The new interiors honour the city’s heritage architecture, its rich history of quality craftsmanship and the Brazilian – and Portuguese – modernists who have shaped the streetscape ever since. Contemporary designers worked with local artisans to source Brazilian furniture and decor for the common rooms around the lush courtyard.

Low-slung leather chairs and plush printed sofas gather around low tables of exotic wood, arched windows and an original marble fireplace. Some walls display hand-glazed tilework from São Paulo artisans. The art collection is dominated by artists with Brazilian roots or professional training – 60 in all. And the original chandeliers are holdovers from Matarazzo’s earliest scheme.

Like rooms in an old villa, the 32 bedrooms range in size, the largest with private terraces and freestanding tubs by banks of windows. All have locally produced wood-slat wardrobes and statement curtains with patterns and shapes inspired by the curved window frames. Lime-washed walls complement reclaimed wood flooring and locally made hand-painted tiles in the bathrooms.

‘Every detail is in tune with the building, rather than disrupting its heritage,’ says Danielle Vourlas, director of Soho House Design in North America. ‘The House is part of the fabric of the neighbourhood – whether you’re sitting among the greenery of the dining terrace or out in the centre courtyard, where we added hand-laid cobbled stone flooring to mirror what’s found all over the city.’

The private member’s club, the second Soho House in Latin America after Mexico City, opened in June.