Dopo la completa riprogettazione di diverse aree, tra cui la hall, il ristorante, le sale riunioni e i bagni, uno degli hotel di riferimento a Milano sfoggia un nuovo look. La ristrutturazione, realizzata congiuntamente dall’architetto spagnolo Álvaro Sans e da Vittorio Grassi, ha donato un nuovo volto al Meliá Milano, hotel situato in via Masaccio, vicinissimo alla zona di tendenza meglio conosciuta come City Life, nuovo centro dello shopping di lusso della città.

L’approccio funzionale e architettonico del progetto di ristrutturazione ha portato alla rinascita di questo hotel nato 20 anni fa, aprendo gli spazi con la creazione di un nuovo assetto spazioso e flessibile delle aree comuni. I giardini interni, gli alti lucernari e l’uso contemporaneo di materiali e texture conferiscono al bar, al ristorante e all’area di co-working un’atmosfera sofisticata.

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.

Nella città italiana di Taranto, in Puglia, c'è un luogo d'incontro leggendario che sta tornando a nuova vita dopo la ristrutturazione effettuata dall'architetto Lello Nigro. Il Caffè Tarentum è un ristorante-caffè storico gestito dalla stessa famiglia da 35 anni. L’intenzione dei proprietari consisteva nel rinnovare questo posto che offre caffè, pasticcini e gelato fatto in casa.

Il restauro, realizzato da Scrimieri Lab sotto la supervisione dell’ Architetto Nigro, mirava a creare uno spazio caldo, accogliente, sobrio e allo stesso tempo elegante. Sono stati utilizzati materiali come il Noce Canaletto, il DKTN by Cosentino e una serie di finiture laccate opache naturali, aggiungendo un carattere sofisticato e molto confortevole al caffè.

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 DKTN 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.

For the third year in a row, Cosentino is the reference partner of Team France in the famous international cooking competition Bocuse d’Or. This year, they have also contributed to the renovation of the kitchen of the ‘Refuge’ in Écully, located 10 kilometres from Lyon and very close to the Paul Bocuse Institute, where chef Davy Tissot’s team prepares for the competition.

Two DKTN colours of great beauty were used in the kitchen renovation: Kovic for the wall cladding and Laurent for the worktop. In choosing DKTN, cleanliness, functionality and excellent performance at high temperatures were paramount. The result is a kitchen that is modern and perfectly equipped, yet elegant and timeless at the same time.

DKTN Laurent is inspired by the natural stone of Port Laurent and features an almost dramatic finish with brown and golden veining. A very theatrical context for presenting the work to be judged by the best jury.

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 DKTN 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.