Via Mastro Giorgio, Testaccio, Rome

Steel stair structure —and dining table— fabrication : Bella Monica Srl, Rome.

The polished aluminium handrail is inspired by the tactile comfort of handlebars from an Italian racing bicycle

This 53 square meter late nineteenth century vaulted pied-à-terre in Testaccio, Rome, was unsympathetically developed around 2000. Remodelled, the space now awaits its writer-editor resident, and her collection of books and furniture.

Formerly divided into three separate rooms, it was natural to remove a dark wood floor and one wall to open a light filled loft-like space at the heart of one of the most wonderfully vital neighbourhoods of the city. Poor quality divided frame windows obscured the view. Elegant slimline window replacements enhance connection of interior to exterior, and they allow generous bathings in Roman light.

Borromini’s Renaissance geometries are registered in hexagonal “cementine” tiled floors from Grandinetti, typical of Rome’s nineteenth century residential buildings. Travertine —the fabric of Rome— is used to form steps, priestess’s library stair --50cm wide--, refectory dining table, servery, and shelves. The library stair and dining table anchor opposite corners of the space, each of the same character, of white painted steel stock. Alvar Aalto’s 1933 designed chairs and stools complement the simple approach to this family gathering space.

Exceptional personal attention from husband and wife constructors —known to me for more than twenty years— and steelworkers made the project a pleasure to produce.