studio didea uses marble and oak parquet flooring to create restaurant interior in palermo

situated in the italian city of palermo, studio didea has designed a new restaurant interior within an existing 18th century building. formerly home to a leather goods shop, the architects have converted the space using a material palette of timber, marble, aluminium and plaster. characterized by the muted grey blue that adorns the walls and ceilings, the project has been realised with consideration paid to notions of perspective and natural light, resulting in an almost theatrical dining atmosphere.

the use of the same gray-blue color for the walls and ceiling brings continuity to the space

all images © nanni culotta

the existing shop was originally structured in three different units with an irregular ground floor plan. the intervention by studio didea works to unify the three separate elements to create a better flowing program to fit the new function. the first action was to open up the structural walls, leading to a fluid space from one room to another, with wide openings framing outdoor views and bringing in an abundance of natural light. upon entering, visitors are welcomed by a bush-hammered carrara marble bar counter, contrasting with the smooth grey-blue walls.

a large custom made wine cellar is the main feature of the more exclusive central room

oak parquet flooring runs through all the rooms and gives the impression to go under the walls thanks to the thin black baseboards. black tables and chairs by pedrali are dotted throughout the other rooms, with a big custom made wine cellar as the main feature of the more exclusive central room. the shelves, which are custom designed by the studio, are backlit and make the bottles appear to come out of the steel and black-painted oak structure. LEDs, facing upwards, illuminate the space indirectly, while flos spotlights are placed to create luminous cones on the tables. the same material palette is continued into the bathrooms, with kerakoll gray resin, tiles mutina and bushammered carrara marble used for the washbasins.

backlit shelves

wide openings framing outdoor views and bringing in natural light

the oak parquet flooring runs along all the rooms and gives the impression to go also under the walls thanks to the thin black baseboards

all the furniture, except the tables and chairs, are custom designed by studio didea to fit the irregular ground floor plan

the bush-hammered carrara marble bar counter

the first action was to open up the walls to unify the three elements of the floor plan 

the restaurant is located in the historic square of piazza borsa

tables and chairs by pedrali

a table with a prime window view

ground floor plan

project info:

location: palermo, italy

design: studio didea

area: 125 m2 (1345 ft2)

year: 2019

contractor: impresa edilsama s.r.l.

materials and finishings: oak parquet legno+color small (LCS) – kerakoll design house, wall color – OIKOS / tiles – mutina / resin- kerakoll / black painted oak wood / steel / carrara marble

furniture suppliers: sagrim – chair nimea pedrali and table arki pedrali

kitchen suppliers: sagrim – electrolux, cool head

lighting: powergreen LED sas – flos

greenery: vivai lo verso

photography: nanni culotta

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: lynne myers | designboom