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London architectural studio Sybarite has paid tribute to Ferrari’s legacy in the car brand’s lifestyle concept store, which features a scarlet glass wall that recalls a racetrack and a terracotta facade that nods to its Italian heritage.
Revealed here in photographs shared exclusively with Dezeen, the store is arranged across a single open-plan floor in a 1980s building in Maranello, northern Italy, where Ferrari’s factory is located.
The opening of the store will coincide with the launch of Ferrari’s first fashion collection on 13 June, which has been designed under the creative direction of Italian designer Rocco Iannone.
The Maranello location is Ferrari’s new lifestyle store
Sybarite, which won the project in a privately held competition, was asked to create a retail environment to showcase the fashion direction and serve as a place for Ferrari Formula 1 fans to immerse themselves in the brand.
For the exterior, Sybarite created a colonnaded terracotta facade – a material that has been used in Italian construction for centuries. It references the traditional colour of the roofs of Modenese houses and the historic domes in Italian architecture.
In contrast to the building’s traditional exterior, the interior space features sinuous forms and glossy red and white surfaces.
A glass wall divides the spaceA wall of glass in Ferrari’s signature red sweeps through the store’s interior and is intended to replicate the curves of the brand’s Fiorano Circuit track.
“The ripple of the glass gives the sense of speed and movement, its ribbon-like form is a direct reference to the cars moving swiftly around the Fiorano Ferrari Circuit,” Sybarite co-founder Simon Mitchell told Dezeen.
“The curve of the glass invites the customer into the space from the exterior. The signature opaque red gradient denotes velocity and is a nod to ‘race red’ (Rosso Corsa) well known to Ferrari enthusiasts.”
A wall of white bricks behind the glass wall serves as a backdrop for the store’s products. These clay bricks represent the clay-modelling process that is used to make Ferrari prototypes before the cars are turned to metal forms.
An installation on the concrete perimeter wall shows a map of the Fiorano circuitElsewhere, cylindrical columns with backlit display cases in coloured acrylic showcase small objects and accessories such as sunglasses and Ferrari models, and a curving metal shelving system, which emerges out of the clay brick wall, expands to become a retail display with shelves and rails.
An installation of the brand’s Cavallino logo (Italian for the Prancing Horse) sits near the entrance. Made from black metal sheets, it appears to float, separate and come together to create a suspended structure that can be observed as a whole from different angles.
Enzo Ferrari Museum by Future Systems
Next to the entrance of the store sits a mind map-inspired installation, consisting of a red grid that recreates the map of the Fiorano circuit, lined with movable images of the creative processes behind the products.
A more intimate space within the store is dedicated to capsule collections and special collaborations.
This features three display areas furnished in acrylic, wood and leather with touches of brushed aluminium, while a monitor set into the wall showcases Ferrari projects.
A metal mobile of the brand’s Cavallino logo sits near the entranceTo aid the design process, Sybarite worked with references from the Ferrari archives and with the Ferrari Diversification team to select materials that are synonymous with its car-making process, as well as the locality of Maranello and Italy as a whole.
“It was a serious consideration that we did not make the retail spaces too museum-like,” explained Mitchell.
“The design subtly links Italy and Ferrari as synonymous with each other through architectural fixtures and material design codes. We sourced clay locally and focussed on craftsmanship from the area,” he added.
Cylindrical columns act as backlit display casesMaterial references used throughout the interior include mahogany, which was used to make the original Enrico Nardi steering wheels of the 1950s and 1960s, and brushed aluminium, which is used in the second stage of the Ferrari car-making process.
Smoked acrylic treated with a special smoky bronze finish nods to Italian modernists that worked in lucite, such as Guzzini and Castelli, and the poured concrete floor recalls the pit lane and the Ferrari factory floor.
Yellow alcantara – a suede-like material that is used in the car interiors – is used to line the dressing room walls, and leather and stitching details pay homage to the brand’s historic collaborative relationship with furniture maker and leather specialist Poltrona Frau.
Ferrari’s latest carbon-fibre sports cars have no windshield or roof
“This is part of a broad strategy for Ferrari – we have created a new shopping experience and a new design concept which embodies the values of innovation, style and performance of the Ferrari,” Ferrari chief brand diversification officer Nicola Boari told Dezeen.
“The space has been completely renovated and redesigned according to the company’s plan to develop and expand into the lifestyle segment, becoming the first venue for the debut of the new clothing and accessories collections under the creative direction of Rocco Iannone.”
The retail strategy will be rolled out to the brand’s Milanese flagship store in September, followed by a dual opening overseas with locations in Los Angeles and Miami.
Other retail interiors by Sybarite include the Miami shop of fashion label Joseph, which is anchored by a black metal corkscrew staircase.
Photography is by Paola Pansini.
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Italian studio Llabb has combined two apartments in Genoa, creating a quirky home that combines nautical references with contemporary art.Casa ai Bailucchi is the home of a young creative couple – one is a gallery owner and music lover, the other is a freelance graphic designer.
The L-shaped upper level contains the kitchen and living spaces
The two-level, 135-square-metre apartment is located on the upper levels of a building overlooking the port, so the design was heavily influenced by the huge machinery that can be seen occupying the waterside.
Locally based Llabb, led by designers Federico Robbiano and Luca Scardulla, planned the layout to take full advantage of the views and also peppered the interior with very subtle maritime references.
Nautical details are combined with vintage furniture and contemporary artworks
These references include a staircase with a rope handrail, a porthole window, and a colour palette featuring shades of blue and yellow.
Other details include a mix of custom-made and vintage furniture, decorative tiles, large plants and a variety of artworks from the clients’ personal collection.
The upper floor leads out to a 100-square-metre roof terrace
The starting point for the design was the addition of a staircase, connecting the two previously separate apartments. With four metres of height between the two floors, it was a challenge to fit this in.
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Robbiano and Scardulla’s solution was to create a staircase that winds up in several different sections. As well as the blue rope handrail, it features oak treads and a steel frame with open risers.
The nautical-inspired staircase features a rope handrail and a porthole window
“The result is pretty dynamic and allows the visitors to see the apartment from different views,” Scardulla told Dezeen.
“It guides you, almost like the stepping stones in Japanese gardens.”
The bedroom features plaster walls and terrazzo flooring
Both levels have their own character. The lower level is more compartmentalised, with two bedrooms, a study room, and a bathroom.
Original terrazzo floors have been preserved in these rooms. There are other nods to the building’s history too, for instance, the master bedroom features an arched window and exposed plaster walls.
Patterned tiles feature in both the bathroom and the kitchen
The upper level is mostly open-plan. The L-shaped floor plan naturally separates the lounge area from the dining space and kitchen, with the space further subdivided by cutaway walls.
“It was a big challenge to manage the long and narrow living space on the upper floor; the risk was to have a ‘corridor effect’,” said Robbiano.
“We used different layers of perceiving and living the space, making it more interesting to explore.”
Studio workspaces can be found on both floors
The apartment contains two work-from-home spaces. As well as the study room on the lower level, there is a “studiolo” on the upper floor, which the designers liken to the cockpit of a crane.
The living space also opens out to a 100-square-metre roof terrace, which the owners have filled with even more plants.
Photography is by Studio Campo.
Project credits
Design: LlabbDesign team: Luca Scardulla, Federico Robbiano, Linda Consiglieri, Laura Davite, Riccardo Gelmini, Martina Pisano, Floria BruzzoneConstruction: Zena CostruzioniCarpentry: Carlino SantoMetalwork: Metal ProjectTiles and sanitary ware: NobiliFlooring: Effebi parquet
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