Il Sereno Lago di Como has announced its “new” Penthouse Suite will launch in June 2021. Famed architect Patricia Urquiola and hotelier Luis Contreras have joined forces to update what local newspaper La Provincia di Como has called “the best Penthouse in the world.”
While the existing Penthouse has consistently been rated among the best in the world, according to Il Sereno, the duo wanted to surpass this with their new vision. The interiors are inspired by classic post-war Italian glamour, “La Dolce Vita,” modernist Italian designers, Como silks and the design of Il Sereno itself. Furniture will include a mixture of new, bespoke pieces by Patricia Urquiola, as well as some of her latest design projects, such as the Fat-Fat Sofa from B&B Italia designed for Il Sereno and classics from the likes of Franco Albini and Gio Ponti.
The Penthouse will showcase use of rich materials, including Canaletto walnut ceilings, Palissandro Blu stone walls and Ceppo di Gre local stone floors. Here, the Ceppo di Gre stone will be incorporated in an innovative way: Venetian terrazzo floors will be combined with geometric tiles of Ceppo for a “new yet classic” look. The bedroom wall is also made of Ceppo, specially grooved to provide additional texture. Another local stone, the green Verdi Alpi, covers the living room wall.
Accessed by a separate elevator, there will be approximately 1,600 square feet of living space, including a 320-square-foot terrace, plus an additional 538-square-feet of grass garden around the parameter. There is a large living room with dining space, two bathrooms and main bedroom, sleeping up to four.
Leading French botanist Patrick Blanc has also returned to Il Sereno to design a vertical garden, which will appear on the new building’s façade below the suite. The living wall will be seen from the lake and will interact with the façade of the building and the neighboring Mirroir du Lac.
Development Timeline: The original plan was to build only during winter when the hotel was closed, so as not to bother guests, leading to a three- to four-year timeline to complete construction. Instead, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the hotel’s subsequent closure, construction will have concluded just 18 months after breaking ground in November 2019.
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