Snaidero USA Showroom
Los Angeles
Giorgio Borruso Design

Iconic ceiling element guides visitors through showroom

	Index | Project Specs
	Click here for slide show. Photo © Benny Chan/Fotoworks

This new Los Angeles showroom for Snaidero, an Italian kitchen design company, is located within an existing building that features an uninteresting façade but very large window bays that expose its exceptionally tall single-story space. Giorgio Borruso Design wanted to minimize the façade’s impact by offsetting it with interior spaces that communicate strongly. An added challenge was that Snaidero’s approach to kitchens is unique: working with many different designers, they create a rich variety of kitchens. Borruso sought to celebrate this diversity while maintaining unity of the retail space and the Snaidero brand.

The architect decided against fragmenting the interior with partitions or walls and instead used an iconic ceiling element to connect or separate display areas. This element begins in the store’s front corner with a circular “Acropolis” designed by Pininfarina: a white spiral comprised of seven bands that ascend into the ceiling and then course throughout the store. Within the spiral, a single band of orange adds a touch of Snaidero’s signature brand color. The bottom band is a perfect circle. The second one begins to lose this shape as an edge of the circle escapes the spiral and runs throughout the store. The remaining ribbons follow it, converging and eventually expanding again to define a mezzanine level at the rear of the building.

The mezzanine is cantilevered, challenging gravity and pushing forward. Seen from the exterior, it appears as if it wants to land on the street. The cantilever conforms to the linearity of a kitchen system displayed below it, rescaling the space to make it more intimate and addressing the challenge of seeing each kitchen in the right proportion while still seeing the space as a whole. Suspended by aircraft cable and finished in dark oak, an exposed stair continues the floor and guides visitors to an office in the mezzanine. All this action is visible from the exterior: the façade of the building is a proscenium and the street becomes witness to architectural theatrics within.

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Formal name of project:
Snaidero USA Showroom

Location:
Los Angeles

Giorgio Borruso, Assoc. AIA

Gross square footage:
1,900 sq. ft.

Owner:
Snaidero USA

Architect:
Giorgio Borruso Design
333 Washington Blvd. #352
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
310-821-9224 tel.
310-821-9350 fax
www.borrusodesign.com

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and products behind this project