Salotto

salotto m. [der. of “sala”]-1.(archit.) Usually the biggest and most prestigious room of a house, designated as a reception room and frequently used to have meals. 2.(estens.)[social, cultural or artistic gathering that takes place periodically in a defined headquarter, frequently in private residences.

The idea of “salotto” has always existed in history with different attitudes and definitions; it is a meeting place for sharing and the exchange of culture and ideas, but also food and even emotions.

The client, an Australian businessman, embodies culture with his passion for art, books and theatre in addition to a deep love for good food and quality wines. After a lifetime dedicated to his business, he decided to have a sabbatical break, choosing London as a strategic point to experience Europe.

Two of his main passions drove the decision to choose a “foreign” office for the interior design project of his new flat: the Italian style and the tailor made. Here started an interesting and unusual collaboration between three different parties - our Australian client, us, Italian architects with already a past relation with London, and a British joinery company.

Our practice born in a carpentry workshop where, way younger than now, we started to design custom made furniture pieces. Wang Shu (Pritzker Prize winner in 2012) once said: “If you want to be an architect, learn first how to be a joiner”. We did it.
Over time the projects have changed identity becoming more architectural; we move on from the workshop to be completely dedicated to bigger scale architectural projects, keeping the tailor made as a fundamental for our design approach.

Shape London has been our perfect match for this experience. Based from a London office and workshop, they design and fabricate beautiful, functional joinery for both private clients and designers alike. They love tailoring each design experience to suit the client, ensuring that each project is entirely bespoke, and of the highest quality. Their talented workshop team fabricates their designs from their Woolwich workshop, expressing the high levels of design and quality that is synonymous with British manufacturing.

The core of the project is the living area, an open space that hosts the kitchen and dining on one side, and the living and relaxing zone on the other. Mainly Italian designer furniture is used to create a warm and cosy, but balanced environment. The soft shapes of the dining table, Zefiro from Flexform, are driving a fluid movement around the space. The suspended lamp, Sento Volo from Occhio, is a technological highlight that matches perfectly with the gold tones of the Calacatta marble of the table.

As soon as you enter, your attention is caught by the custom made joinery that starts as a flexible bench running below the windows fascia, then becomes a desk, offering a well studied workstation, and ends with the full height bookshelves on the opposite side of the room. This ongoing element, including the central sofa within these lines, embraces the visitor from all sides of the living space. Smooth but strong lines define the environment, growing in depth and height. Curves are as tense as sails of a boat blown up by the wind, the black steel stands (custom-made by North-London based metalworkers Design + Weld) are as light as sail shrouds and the 45° cuts of the shelves are reminiscent of the hull. All of this was designed as a tribute to our homeland. 

The American Black Walnut planks have been wisely chosen with Shape London and have been finished expertly to become as soft as velvet. Due to their length, the boards are made by more than one piece and have been assembled and allowed to rest for a significant period to prevent them losing their shape over time. These were not ready made but instead entirely bespoke.

The sofa Dock by B&B Italia looks like it is floating on top of his wood board base, acting as a link for the two custom made furniture pieces.

The massing impact of the material is minimized to achieve an unreal lightness. Visually, it looks like the books are the real structural support of the joinery. The living room, sanctuary of conversation, hosts an Eames Lounge chair and a CH07 Shell chair.

To lead the master bedroom there is the Kelly bed by Poliform. The waved brown leather headboard creates a good contrast with the Spessart Oak of the base. In our idea the bedside tables should have balanced the smooth lines of the bed with something stronger. Not finding any products that would fit well with our idea, we decided again to go with something custom made: two Saint Laurent marble cubes, designed with sharp edges and slightly raised from the floor to give a float feeling to these heavy masses. The golden flames of the marble are well engaged with the IC lamp by Flos.

The three pictures by Herbert List, all taken by the Ligurian Riviera, close up the formal research that aim to balance the contemporary and the classical beauty.

The guest bedrooms are fresh and young, designed with light colours and modern graphics.

Stato

Completato

Anno

2020

Dimensioni

110 mq + 20 mq Terrazzo

Luogo

London, UK

team

studio llabb

Federica Zunino

Mercedes Saura

Incarico

Progetto di interior design.

Progetto preliminare, definitivo, esecutivo e direzione lavori.

Fotografie

Adam Scott / Architectural Photography

Committente

Privato

Falegnameria

Shape London

Prodotti

Flos

Artemide

Occhio

B&B Italia

Poliform

Flexform

Vitra

Carl Hansen & son

Ercol

Kvadrat