Thin, hard-wearing and elegant

In the last decade there has been a strong trend towards customisation in showroom design projects. This has involved a quest for original design cues, added human value and bespoke solutions in response to the massification of consumption patterns and retail models typical of department stores and shopping centres. Such projects aim to stand out for their empathic approach to customers, their original choice of products, and the way they are presented. This complexity must be matched by a well-designed showroom layout. The design of spaces, the choice of furnishing accessories, finishes and materials, and the lighting design all take on a fundamental role. Designers consequently seek solutions that will meet the client’s expectations and reflect the interests and tastes of the people who will be using these spaces, while at the same time anticipating fashions and trends in interior design. This approach calls for a theatricality and complicity that go well beyond individual products and instead propose a shared and authentic lifestyle.
One such example is Boutique Extra, a fashion and clothing showroom recently set up in Castiglion Fiorentino, a small town with a wealth of mediaeval and renaissance architecture situated in the hills near Arezzo.
This fashion outlet is very well known and popular within its local area, offering clothes created by famous designers and international brands. The showroom project consists of a space of great linearity and clarity, where the regular pattern of lines created by the wall and container displays dissolves in the icy tones of white, in the unifying element of the sand coloured floor, in the transparencies of the glazed surfaces, and in the perceptive ambiguities of the large mirrors. The result is a palimpsest with a wealth of subtle references, where the clothes themselves take pride of place through the variability of colours, fashions and seasonal offerings.
The floor coverings play an equally important role given that the client had expressed a desire for seamless surfaces that would be tough, durable, practical and easy to clean and maintain. The solution was to install large Sabbia coloured porcelain laminate sheets (a new and exclusive technology from Panaria Ceramica) in a 100×300 mm size and thickness of just 3.5 mm from the Aisthesis 0.3 collection. To meet the required performance levels, the Plus version was chosen for its glass fibre matting reinforcement which ensures a high level of strength and flexibility.