The colours of the natural stone of the island of Malta meet all the shades of blue of the sky and the Mediterranean in this restyling project carried out inside a stately flat in Sliema. The inspiration was the extraordinary view from the dining room onto the rocky tip of Exiles Bay in the heart of the Mediterranean. The project was overseen by Sabrina Soldà of Sap Management, an international procurement company providing turnkey services for the design and renovation of properties, and Keith Pillow, founder of the Maltese architecture firm DAAA Haus.
The surrounding landscape guided the hand of the designers in their choice of materials: the undisputed protagonists are wood, for floors and boiserie, and natural stone, used not only as cladding but also to shape customised furnishings according to shades capable of recreating a harmonious dialogue between interior and exterior.
‘The choice to rely on Antolini® was a completely natural one,” says Sabrina Soldà of Sap Management, “being able to go to the company to personally choose the blocks with the customer was a unique experience, which generated a true appreciation for this brand. Seeing these wonderful stones… it was like entering an art museum. It’s in this moment that one becomes fully aware of how human artworks, created over the centuries, are so deeply indebted to nature, whose colors and shapes we have always tried to imitate”.
This is why inspiration from the natural element becomes central to the design and can be recognised in the living and dining areas, placed in direct visual communication, where, in addition to the oak, it is the surprising lightness and brightness of the natural quartz surfaces from Antolini®’s Exclusive Collection that captures the attention.
In the living area, oak, used on the floor as well as in the ceiling with an elegant Art Deco touch, is combined with the equipped wall in which the brass and wood uprights dialogue with the horizontal elements in Cristallo Lumix, whose pearly surface is furrowed by warm earth-coloured veins.
On the other hand, it is the extraordinary translucence of Cristallo Traslux that gives shape to the top of the imposing dining table, whose imposing extension of about 360 cm made it necessary to compose several slabs. The joint has thus become an opportunity for precious detail, with a brass strip drawing two specular semicircles on the surface, a figure that is also taken up in the geometry of the two legs supporting the table. The brass strip also distinguishes the floor, in the frame of the underlying wooden mosaic ‘carpet’, designed as a precious inlay that discreetly delineates a functional area without breaking the formal cleanliness of an otherwise seamless environment.
A small lounge separates the dining area from the kitchen designed not to be a strongly recognisable purely functional area. In fact, a concealed kitchenette hides the food preparation area from view: the result is to further emphasise the large, sculpturally shaped central island. To optimise the design, the underlying wooden structure has been covered with Cristallo Lumix, slats, a solution that appears even more fitting because of the visual effect of the combination of the various vertical elements that brings to mind the grooves of Corinthian columns.
The Patagonia Original ‘Extra’, an extraordinary natural quartz from Antolini®’s Exclusive Collection, stands out on the wall in the Wine Library, enclosing on its surface all the colours that permeate the environment, a delicate balance of subdued tones and accent touches provided by brass and black details.
In the courtesy bathroom, with its distinct minimalist elegance, the dialogue between the oak of the wall panelling and the natural stone continues, with one of Antolini®’s exclusive marbles, Dover White®, the protagonist on the floor and covering the washbasin block. In this case too, great attention has been paid to the choice of the block and, in particular, to the positioning of the slabs on the floor, so that the darker parts merge into those covering the washbasin block, almost as if to recreate a surface without a solution of continuity between the horizontal and vertical planes.
In the master bathroom, on the other hand, the grey shade of Invisible Light prevails, a stone chosen for the half-height wall and floor cladding and for the vanity top in light walnut-coloured quilted oak with brass details. Both stones have been installed here with a Lether finish, so as to respect and enhance the natural grain to the maximum, even at a tactile level.
Ph. credits: Diana Iskander
