Suites suspended between the lake and the sky

Audrey and Marilyn are the names given to two holiday suites designed by Valentina Galassini and located on the top floor of an Art Nouveau building in Como. Originally constructed in 1902 by a wealthy family of the period and used as a single-family house until 1983, the building is now divided into various floors and functions, with the Lake Como Skyview residence on the attic floor. ”The name was chosen on account of its favourable position overlooking the lake, but also because of the 23 glazed openings offering different views of the panorama and the sky,” explains the designer and owner of the home, who personally oversaw the renovation. The project, which involved completely renovating the building and creating nine 140×90 cm Velux skylights – four per suite plus one in the hallway between the two – chose to emphasise the existing original wooden beams and the sequence of 14 oval windows located around the entire perimeter at a height of 30 cm from the floor. “The presence of wood elements and openings reminiscent of portholes creates the sensation of being on a boat,” explains the designer, and this provided the inspiration for two key aspects of her project: the use of large ceramic slabs and an installation pattern designed specifically for each space. Cercom’s marble-inspired Amaranto slabs were chosen for the living areas “to create an attractive and prestigious floor that would emphasise the presence of the roof beams without detracting from their value as a characteristic feature of the home”. With this in mind, the flooring creates a luminous surface whose rust-coloured veins echo the aesthetics and colours of the beams. But the 45° angle of installation of the slabs also mimics the orientation of the beams and at the same time “helps to convey a flowing sensation and expand the visual perception of the rooms. For the bathroom floors, I chose Yacht Club, a highly innovative collection from Cerasarda inspired by marine wood planking and installed in the same way as teak decking on lake boats.” The Magistra Fior di Bosco slabs from Serenissima installed on the walls were “chosen for their large size and because to the untrained eye they look like real marble slabs. I had them installed right up to the ceiling with the aim of creating a highly uniform ambience with high-quality materials.” The sense of harmony that pervades the rooms owes much to the meticulous installation work carried out expertly by the Como-based construction company Zani. As it is a historical building, to benefit from the tax concessions offered by the Ecobonus 110 scheme it was necessary to “focus on the energy performance of the residential unit by insulating the entire ceiling, replacing all the fixtures and choosing the solution of dry underfloor heating”. For this purpose, ceramic slabs also proved to be the most suitable technical solution for guaranteeing top performance.