This colourful Rome apartment was inspired by the uplifting effect of club music
‘We’ve only had one party so far, a very loud one,’ says Matteo Soddu, the co-founder of architecture and design firm Studiotamat, who lives in this apartment with his partner, fellow former DJ Sergio Marras. Spot the decks in the living room and you might picture acid-house tracks being spun late into the night, but this was a rager of a different sort.
‘Before the renovation began, we invited our friends to come round and start the demolition of the walls,’ says Matteo. ‘We got rid of almost every door. It’s an architectural decision that a client may have struggled to accept,’ he says, but as both customer and designer this was a project that allowed total creative freedom.
The 95-square-metre space had been in a sad state when Matteo and Sergio first viewed it; the walls were in poor condition and the 15-metre-long corridor that once ran through the centre of the apartment had caused them both a certain amount of anxiety.
Once they spotted the views though – this home looks out onto the travertine walls of Rome’s Termini train station, with its control tower designed in the early 1940s by Angiolo Mazzoni – the surprising blend of ‘chaos and wonder’ that they witnessed convinced them to stay. ‘The noise of the whizzing trains, the sound of the car horns that mixes with the whistle of the Tranvétto,’ recalls Matteo.
After removing walls to create an open-plan living space, the next step was to peel back the paint layers on the ceiling to reveal impressive vaulted brickwork. This feature is the main focus of the lounge, kitchen and dining room, with resin flooring chosen in a neutral hue so as not to distract from its beauty.
Here, the style decisions may have been restrained, but that is not true of elsewhere in the apartment. Most notable, perhaps, is the cobalt blue of Matteo and Sergio’s shared study – chosen to evoke the sea views in Sardinia, where they both grew up.
The exact shade (‘Smalt’ by Little Greene) was selected with the help of Sabina Guidotti, a friend and founder of local decorating store Bludi Prussia. ‘We expressed to her our desire to bring a bit of joy and liveliness into the home, and this colour’s intensity also reminded us of the clubs where we both used to play,’ says Matteo.
Similarly bold, the bathroom is defined by a trinity of shades – yellow, pink, amaranth – while the adjoining bedroom pairs mustard walls with toile de Jouy curtains that feel almost contradictory in their traditionalism.
Did Matteo and Sergio agree on every design decision? ‘After years of cohabitation, tastes, imagination and needs tend to converge, so we were starting from a very broad common base,’ says Matteo. ‘Negotiations were mainly limited to details.’ You just need to glance up at the neon smiley face above the entrance hall to catch the hint that this is a very happy and creatively harmonious home. studiotamat.com
