Local practice Millimeter Arkitekter transformed the neglected cinema into an Italian eatery with a “grand and familiar character”, which honors the building’s historic quirks. Ornately painted walls, velvet furnishings and a pair of olive trees create a decadent setting for this Italian restaurant within an early 20th-century cinema, in Sweden’s capital.
Now L’Avventura luxury restaurant, the cinema was designed by Swedish architect Björn Hedvall in 1927. It sits at a busy intersection where developer Stureplansgruppen is planning to open two further luxury restaurants.
“We tried to create a new interior with its own design language that could stand for itself, and at the same time speak well with the existing interior,” Tina Marin, interior architect at Millimeter Arkitekter, told Dezeen.
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The interior design firm chose to preserve the venue’s stucco ceilings and decorative walls, which are painted with classical murals by Swedish artist Nils Asplund. This Italian eatery is a statement building! A pair of mature olive trees from Italy were planted at the center of the main dining hall – which has a 20-feet-high ceiling – to help create a more intimate ambiance in this Italian eatery.
“We made many spectacular sketch proposals, but in the end, everyone that worked on this project felt that two huge olive trees would give the right feeling, and would work well with the Italian concept,” Marin explained.
Keeping to a rich color palette, the architects specially crafted red velvet dining chairs to curve around each round dining table. Forest green tiles have been used to complete the Italian eatery‘s open kitchen, which has been placed where the cinema’s film screen once was.
The practice also employed glass to create tall shelving units for L’Avventura‘s two luxury bar areas, ensuring visitors can still get a glimpse of the distinctive walls.
Source: Deezen
Photography is by Andy Liffner
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