Projects

Hard Rock Café - Rome

The soundtrack to
La Dolce Vita

The Hard Rock Cafe themed restaurant in Via Veneto, Rome is changing music and renovating its interiors
Author
Silvia Airoldi
Surfaces
CAESAR
Year of completion
2014

With its elegant bars and luxury hotels, Rome’s famous Via Veneto was a popular haunt of film stars, singers, journalists and paparazzi during the fifties and sixties and was immortalised in Federico Fellini’s 1960 film La Dolce Vita. And as commemorated in a special plaque, the director himself referred to the street as the “theatre of the Dolce Vita”. Although the street is no longer at the centre of the show business world, it’s easy to understand why it was chosen as the location for Rome’s Hard Rock Cafe. Opened in 1998, it was the first Italian restaurant owned by the global chain, which now boasts 163 cafes in 52 countries worldwide and is renowned for its unique blend of American cuisine and music, vintage interiors and collections of instruments, clothes and memorabilia once belonging to rock stars and singers. The chain was founded by two enterprising young Americans with a passion for music, Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, who in 1971 opened the first Hard Rock Cafe in London’s Park Lane as a place where people could relax and enjoy American-style good food. It rapidly became popular with celebrities and musicians such as British guitarist Eric Clapton, who asked the management to hang his guitar over his regular seat in the restaurant so as to lay claim to that spot. Other musicians followed suit, starting a tradition that led to the Hard Rock Cafes’ famous collections of musical memorabilia. After recently celebrating its first 15 years in business, the restaurant in Via Veneto has undergone a project to renovate part of the interiors. While maintaining the original furnishings, the project replaced the floor coverings in the first floor areas open to the public. The building’s upper floor accommodates the administration and sales offices and extends over a total area of 280 square metres. The Life collection wood-look porcelain tile from Caesar in the colour Noce (walnut) was chosen as the floor covering in the main room and the function room, reproducing all the beauty, varied colour tones and material texture of natural timber. The tiles also meet the necessary functional requirements of dimensional stability, ease of cleaning, durability and environmental performance. The chosen size, 20×120 cm, is perfectly suited to the scale of the spaces, achieving a sense of lightness and aesthetic continuity in spite of the variety of colours. Wood dominates, with a prevalence of dark tones chosen for the functional elements, the central island with its visually striking bar counter, the wall panelling and the accessories. A classic style contrasts with the conspicuous décor and distinctive branding. Rome’s Hard Rock Cafe is particularly popular with tourists and offers a unique attraction: from the glazed walls of the gazebo, customers can admire Via Veneto’s splendid buildings and hotels with their prevalently late nineteenth century architecture.

Tiles
Caesar, Life series
Type
porcelain stoneware
Sizes
20x120 cm
Colours
Noce
Technical characteristics
Water absorpion (ISO 10545-3): 0,05%
Chemical resistance (ISO 10545-13): compliant
Resistance to deep abrasion (ISO 10545-6): <= 145 mm3
Stain resistance (ISO 10545-14): compliant
Frost resistance (ISO 10545-12): compliant
Modulus of rupture and breaking strength (ISO 10545-4): compliant
Slip resistance (DIN 51130): R9 Naturale/matt
Thermal shock resistance (ISO 10545-9): compliant
Linear thermal expansion (ISO 10545-8): compliant
Certifications and awards
ISO 14001
SASO
Request Project info > Products Gallery >