Sea View Apartments, Palermo / Puccio Collodoro Architetti

Project: Sea View Apartments
Architects: Puccio Collodoro Architetti
Construction company: Almeida srl
Location: Via Francesco Crispi, Palermo, Italy
Size: 130 square meters
Year 2019
Budget – € 100,000
Text and Photos provided by Puccio Collodoro Architetti

Type of space where you had to insert the project
Sea View Apartments is an accommodation facility located within an imposing and modern building called “Ponte sul Mare” which houses residences, accommodation and business activities, located in the Politeama district, the heart of the city of Palermo. The building originates from the total reconversion and renovation of the former Hotel Ponte, well known in the city for its enviable position. The building, in fact, offers suggestive views overlooking the sea, the Castellammare, the Cala, and Piazza XII Vittime.

Chosen materials
The materials have been chosen according to a logic that enhances light and matter, emphasizing the details and above all the views that each individual apartment offers to its guests. Most of the furnishings have been designed and made to measure, such as the kitchen cabinet, made of natural oak that contrasts with the anthracite composite of the top and the side panels.

The pastel colored wall units inserted in the kitchen cabinet, recalling the finishes and some accessories present in the different apartments, do not definitely go unnoticed. The flooring recalls oak with a slightly bleached tone and the walls remain neutral. The fabrics of the curtains, which act as a curtain towards the breathtaking sea view, present an ivory shade. In contrast to these tones, the illuminated bodies are contrasted for the most part with a matt black finish.

Short overall project description
The project is developed through three main environments, defined respectively in the three mini apartments, characterized by three different sizes: this system makes up the entire accommodation structure. All the apartments are completely autonomous and independent, characterized respectively by a sleeping area, a dining area and a kitchen.

Each apartment is organised with a single open space, while in the larger ones, the sleeping area is shielded by a wall made of wooden strips positioned perpendicularly to a large mobile container, made of natural oak, which becomes the head of the bed in the sleeping area and the TV cabinet in the living area; in front of this there is the kitchen cabinet, also made with oak doors and pastel colored wall units, framed by a vertical radiator, all in the light blue color.

The false ceiling is characterized by the presence of cylindrical extruded and recessed spotlights in opaque black, and it also creates cuts of light near the curtain compartment. The other two mini apartments have a similar development, but characterized by a smaller surface area, and by the use of different pastel tones, respectively green and yellow.

Main difficulties and adopted solutions
The main difficulty was to structure a single real estate unit in three mini apartments completely independent of each other, guaranteeing everyone the necessary comfort, typical of proper accommodation facilities. Furthermore, it was necessary to take into account an important constraint, which initially was limiting: the presence of a completely glazed wall which, though it guaranteed the additional value to the individual units due to the suggestive sea views, has limited some compositional choices of the spaces.

Two apartments have therefore been arranged on the seafront, characterized by a composition and a disposition of the furnitures that emphasize the view of the large glass wall, framing it as if it was a large painting.