STUDIO BENAIM: CASA PORTA ROMANA

CASA PORTA ROMANA: Alongside Studio Benaim, we head into Florence’s Oltrarno

to discover the inspiration behind the refurbishment of a journalist’s new home.

A story that began decades ago: in the 1970s, a young American journalist—passionate about Italian food culture—left the United States for Italy, determined to learn and savour everything about the country’s regional food and wine.

Five decades on, she becomes a respected reference in her field, having built close relationships with chefs, farmers and winemakers well beyond Tuscany. But her greatest pleasure remains bringing these people together at her home and cooking for them.

A short walk from Porta Romana and the Oltrarno, the home she has recently moved into with her husband perfectly reflects her convivial style and spirit of sharing—starting with the luminous living area: informal, intimate, cosy.

Design approach

The project involved the refurbishment of a 1930s apartment a few steps from Porta Romana. The goal was to adapt the home to the new owners’ needs and way of life. At the clients’ request, the design revisits and reinterprets furnishing solutions tested in their previous home, preserving a strong link with their daily habits and domestic rituals.

The layout was completely reorganized:

• On the right-hand side, facing the street, the private spaces were rearranged: bedrooms and the couple’s individual studios.
• On the left-hand side, overlooking the internal garden, the living area was created: living room, dining room and kitchen.

This new organisation clearly separates the home functions, improving comfort and liveability.

One of the most significant choices was to introduce generous internal openings, placing living, dining and kitchen in direct dialogue. Targeted demolitions removed pre-existing partitions to create a continuous, light-filled space for everyday life and entertaining.

An opening between kitchen and dining was enhanced with a pass-through granite shelf, serving as both counter and visual connector.

The private garden—a rarity in Florence’s urban fabric—has been equipped to host a small kitchen garden of aromatic herbs, in line with the owners’ passion for cooking and quality ingredients.

The project maintains a strong respect for the home’s original identity:

• Windows and internal doors were restored rather than replaced, by Falegnameria Ferruzzi.
• The original decorative terrazzo floors—different in every room—were preserved, cleaned and waxed.
• All furnishings—kitchen, bathrooms, walk-in wardrobe, bookcases and bespoke pieces—were crafted by Wood Arredamenti, an artisan company in the Florence area.
• The result is a tailored environment, balanced between past and present.

FOCUS: The kitchen as the home’s soul and beating heart

A microcosm of under 10 sq m, where every drawer, shelf and wall unit was designed to meet a specific requirement. The meticulous planning is by the Florence-based studio led by André Benaim, author of the refurbishment of the entire property, which is enhanced by a tranquil private garden.

The brief

Thanks to her professional background, the client approached Studio Benaim with a clear vision. The kitchen—nerve centre of the home—had to be alive, functional and ready for conviviality. The model chosen for the cooking block, according to the architects from Studio Benaim, who oversaw the renovation, did not require complex systems or installation work.

Given the compact size, the choice fell on a 90 cm ILVE model from the Professional Plus range—the smallest configuration able to offer two ovens (one 60 cm, the other 30 cm) to cook for larger groups.

The hob has six burners; the cast-iron pan supports allow pots to slide safely without risk of tipping. An AISI 304 stainless-steel extractor hood with professional baffle filters underlines the client’s professional-minded approach.

The objective: unlocking spatial potential

More broadly, the architects at Benaim Studio worked to reveal the apartment’s untapped potential. Located on the main floor of a 1930s building, its main historic testimony is the decorative terrazzo flooring: featuring different patterns from room to room, they have all been preserved and are enhanced by the choice to incorporate furnishings that are, for the most part, raised or suspended above the floor.

The result

By carefully optimising every square centimetre and opening a direct connection to the adjacent living room, the small kitchen area appears as an efficient “working alcove”. Thanks to the architectural reconfiguration, it now enjoys natural light entering from the two windows facing the garden.

“We carried out double structural reinforcements,” the architects explain, focusing on the main structural interventions in the living area. “On one side, we removed a wall that once divided the spaces currently occupied by the sofa and dining table, to form a single, spacious living space. On the other, we created a wide pass-through are between the kitchen and the living space, inserting a deep granite shelf that also serves the cabinetry below.”

The same granite surfaces unify all worktops; white-painted timber walls, shelves and units amplify the sense of cleanliness and practicality of the kitchen without making it sterile. Its uniqueness is further enhanced by the exhibited collections of tableware, pots, pans, and other utensils gathered over time by the owner, tangible signs of her boundless passion for food and eating well.

Smart details include a timber plinth designed as additional storage: it looks like a skirting board or a standard kitchen plinth but is in fact a drawer—ideal for trays, including oversized ones.

“It might look like a skirting board or a plinth like those normally found in kitchens: instead, it is a drawer dedicated to storing trays in particular, including large ones” reveal the Benaim studio.

The result is a kitchen where everything is within easy reach—even when out of sight—prioritising function over mere display. It is the perfect place for the owner to prepare, among other dishes, the one that most reflects her personal story: the indispensable Tuscan fettunta (bruschetta).

TECHNICAL DATA:

Area: 250 sq m
Client: Private
Interior designers: André Benaim, Camilla Santoni
Architect: André Benaim, Camilla Santoni
Photography: Sofia Lalli
Year: 2025

Craftspeople: Falegnameria Fratelli Ferruzzi (windows and internal doors); Falegnameria Wood Arredamenti (kitchen joinery, TV/bookcase, pantry, bathroom cabinetry, walk-in wardrobe, gym, studio, entrance)

Bathroom suppliers (WC, bidet, mixers): Ideal Standard (sanitaryware), Bugnatese (taps)

Service bathroom resin: Moreno Paparini

Master bathroom cladding: Carrara marble supplied by Baldazzi e Pasco

Kitchen worktops: granite supplied by Baldazzi e Pasco

Kitchen appliances: ILVE, Haier, Siemens, Giesse, Grohe Blue Home

Kitchen hood: ILVE

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For the Casa W. project, ILVE supplied the Professional Plus 90 cm cooking block with double oven

A 90 cm freestanding stainless steel cooker unit from the Professional Plus collection with double oven and configurable in 5 versions: 6 burners, 6 burners with fry-top, 4 burners and 2 induction zones, 5 burners with fish burner, 6 induction zones. Available in 5 colours and satin finishes and customizable with RAL colours. The range cooker features Dual gas burners with power up to 5 kW and integrates a 60 cm multi-function electric oven with a temperature range from 30 to 300° C and a 30 cm multi-function electric oven with a temperature range from 30 to 250°. For this model, ILVE also supplies central griddles, allowing users to switch freely between fry-top and griddle configurations.

www.ilve.com

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Profile: Studio Benaim is an architecture firm based in Florence, comprised of a multidisciplinary team of young and talented architects, led by founder André Benaim. The firm has thirty years of experience internationally, both in Italy and Tuscany, with both local and international clients. Our identity is rooted in the theme of living, especially in historical and landscape contexts of remarkable beauty and complexity. The theme of living is closely linked to that of tourist hospitality, which for us is a form of temporary living.

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Click on the following link to directly download the press kit with HR images:

https://bit.ly/CasaPortaRomana