design et al are delighted to announce that Sara Battelli & Partners have been shortlisted in The International Design and Architecture Awards 2015
It is the restoration and redesign of a historic mezzanine from 1500 in the heart of the city of Venice including its façade and atrium. Our client was a Venetian family with three children. The mezzanine has been in the family for many generations and so constitutes more than just a property; it also has powerful emotional and historic resonances for the family. The apartment is the client’s vacation home. The previous restoration was not to the client’s liking. Additionally, the building was in urgent need of structural repair. We were hired to solve these two main themes.
From the outset, it was clear to us, that this restoration would be carried out with the greatest respect towards the existing structures. After a detailed analysis of the house, its external and internal architecture, and its structure, we concluded that a major priority would be to assure the longevity of our work. It was vital that measures were taken to repair damage caused by the passage of time, securing the beauty of this antique building and mezzanine for the future.
The improvements to the apartment’s circulation that featured in both design proposals delineated a clearer function for each space and therefore a more cohesive distribution of furniture. With the interior design we would recreate a home that would form a narrative of the owners and their family over generations though artwork and furnishing, purchasing, ordering and selecting items to differentiate its interior design from a disorganized collector’s home, and appear both sleek and intentional.
