After the complete redesign of several areas, including the lobby, restaurant, meeting rooms and bathrooms, one of the landmark hotels in the Italian city of Milan is sporting a fresh new look. The renovation, carried out jointly by Spanish architect Álvaro Sans and Vittorio Grassi Architects, has given a new look to the Meliá Milano, a hotel located in Via Masaccio, very close to the trendy area known as City Life, the new centre of luxury shopping in the city.

The functional and architectural approach of the renovation project led to the rebirth of this 20-year-old hotel, opening up spaces by creating a new, spacious and flexible layout of the common areas. The interior gardens, high skylights and contemporary use of materials and textures give the bar, restaurant and co-working area a sophisticated feel.

The concept of Hayal Kahvesi, a restaurant chain in Turkey, goes beyond serving lunch and dinner, as it turns into a concert hall at night. And in keeping with this multi-disciplinary concept, one of its premises in Istanbul has been refurbished. ‘During the day it is a good place to eat and to meet. At night, it turns into a club-lounge,’ explain the architects and interior designers working with Tanya Ildiroğlu and her studio Margo Interior and Product Design on the project.

The entire design revolves around both experiences and tries to meet the needs of the customers. ‘We are organic beings, who need food to nourish the body and music to nourish the soul. We live in one of the largest metropolises and have to deal with a lot of hustle and bustle. Therefore, one of the objectives was for the interior design to be able to restore all of the negativity of the day and turn it into something positive,’ the designers explain.

In the Italian city of Taranto, Apulia, there is a legendary meeting place that is now coming back to life after the renovation carried out by the architect Lello Nigro. Caffè Tarentum is a historic café restaurant that has been run by the same family for 35 years. The owners want to freshen up this place that offers coffee, pastries and home-made ice cream.

This renovation, carried out by Scrimieri Lab under the supervision of Nigro, aimed to create a warm, welcoming, restrained but elegant space. Materials such as Canaletto Walnut, Dekton by Cosentino and an array of natural matt lacquered finishes have been used to add a sophisticated and very comfortable character to the café.

The former Finnish State Railways VR headquarters building, originally designed by Eliel Saarinen and completed in 1909, has been transformed into a Scandic Hotel. The building is strongly tied to Helsinki’s railway station, an important part of the cityscape as well as culturally and historically significant, as it served as the railway administration headquarters for almost a century. The design work on the hotel was exceptionally demanding. The building is protected under the Act on the Protection of the Built Heritage.

Representing Eliel Saarinen’s Art Nouveau style, the former Finnish State Railways VR headquarters building was renovated and expanded into an elegant hotel with almost 500 rooms as well as meeting and event facilities. The cultural and historical landmark’s demanding renovation and change of use was carried out in cooperation with the Finnish Heritage Agency and the city of Helsinki.

The renovation was an exceptionally demanding project. Protected parts of the building include its entire exterior and roofing, as well as its main lobby, main staircase and hallways, the longest of which is 159 metres long.

Food as a language of love. This is how renowned chef Aitor Jerónimo Orive sums up his passion for gastronomy, heritage of his homeland, the Basque Country, a region in northern Spain. “My grandparents are wonderful cooks and I always caught them in the kitchen, stirring a pot of hot, hearty and incredibly delicious food”, Aitor recalls. For Aitor, the logical step was to become a chef and open his own culinary space. So far, nothing unusual. Except that he opened his restaurant in Singapore, more than 11,000 kilometres away from home. It was there that he opened the Basque Kitchen, a Michelin-starred restaurant where Basque cuisine has become part of international cultural heritage.

Now, after several years of hard work that have earned him the appreciation of the general public, the Basque Kitchen by Aitor moves to the historic building The Fullerton Waterboat House, and does so under the guidance of the design studio Grey Matters, featuring Dekton as the reference material. “Moving from Amoy Street to its new location was a bold move that required careful planning. Redefining a brand that has such history and so much prestige is a task that must be handled with delicacy, sensitivity and the utmost care so as not to undermine all the hard work that the Chef and his team have put in over the last few years”, explains the studio.

Pour la troisième année consécutive, Cosentino est le partenaire de référence de l’Équipe de France dans le célèbre concours international de cuisine, le Bocuse d’Or. Cette année, il a également contribué à la rénovation de la cuisine du Refuge d’Écully, situé à 10 kilomètres de Lyon et tout près de l’Institut Paul Bocuse, où l’équipe du chef Davy Tissot se prépare pour la compétition.

Deux couleurs Dekton d’une grande beauté ont été utilisées dans la rénovation de la cuisine : Kovic pour le revêtement mural et Laurent pour le plan de travail. En choisissant Dekton, la propreté, la fonctionnalité et d’excellentes performances à des températures élevées étaient primordiales. Le résultat est une cuisine moderne et parfaitement équipée, mais élégante et intemporelle à la fois.

Le Dekton Laurent s’inspire de la pierre naturelle de Port Laurent et présente une finition presque spectaculaire avec des veines brunes et dorées. Un contexte très théâtral pour présenter les mets qui seront jugés par le meilleur des jurys.

Drita means light in Albanian. But a very special light, like the one reflected by the turquoise waters of the Adriatic Sea and the creamy colour of Albania’s sandy beaches. Drita Kafè is a small café which recreates an atmosphere of idyllic nature and endless summer in Piana degli Albanesi, a small mountain village embedded in Sicily and founded over five centuries ago by Albanians.

History, tradition and modernity come together in this café to offer the typical Sicilian ‘cannoli’, as well as a variety of local pastries and cigars. At Drita Kafè everything is designed to please the senses. And here, the Dekton surface, in its striking Entzo colour, plays a perfect role.

CulinaryOn is an immersive cooking studio for team-building activities founded in Moscow and has branches in Poland, Romania, and now, Singapore. Completed in four months, CulinaryOn Singapore occupies a 4,000-square-meter, fan-shaped trapezoidal unit in Robertson Quay, Singapore.

The designers turned this challenging, irregular shape into an opportunity to present a dynamic configuration with moving benches and workstations that can be easily adjusted according to the users’ needs.