Best Retail Interior Design Studios in Italy: A Project Shortlist

Use the references to decide whom to meet. The conversation should establish availability and the work each practice would undertake for your premises.

AD’ develops retail interiors for boutiques, stores and showrooms. Layout, materials, lighting and bespoke fixtures form one interior design, developed in Italy with the client’s appointed local team.

The starting point is the collection, how customers will be served and the space available. The appointment defines the drawings and specifications, sample decisions and technical interfaces. Site visits and construction-stage involvement are set out for the project.

At Hotel Eden Spa in Rome, AD’ developed illuminated stone and bespoke glass display details. This is a hospitality reference showing work on materials and fabrication. For a retail commission, discuss how that approach would respond to the merchandise, service and character of the brand.

Milan-based Lombardini22 presents a retail practice covering shopping centres, outlets, retail parks and stores. Its portfolio provides references at different commercial scales.

The Galleria Alberto Sordi redevelopment in Rome covers entrances, shopfronts, building systems and lighting within the historic gallery. It is a reference for an owner considering how individual premises relate to a larger property.

Separate the tenant interior from any work to the building or common areas when discussing the commission. Establish which disciplines and approvals the practice would handle and how landlord requirements fit the design.

Euromobil Showroom Milan is listed as a completed interior design project on the official website, with the design attributed to Matteo Thun & Antonio Rodriguez. The presentation describes a setting for kitchens through natural light, restrained colour and flexibility.

For a brand whose products need to be experienced within a room, examine how the collection relates to the surrounding architecture. Then discuss how the studio would approach your own products and premises.

A showroom may accommodate demonstrations and professional appointments alongside browsing. Describe those visits and how displays may change over time.

ST Design’s official About page describes a practice founded by Italian designer Stefano Tordiglione, with its main office in Hong Kong and partnerships with architectural and interior studios in Italy. It lists retail among its services and names Brooks Brothers fashion boutiques and a Wellendorff jewellery boutique among its project references.

For an Italian commission, ask which team would develop the interior and how the local collaboration would work. Explore retail work relevant to the way your brand serves customers, from displaying a collection to a private appointment. The named references provide a starting point; the proposed team and scope need to fit your premises.

Begin the shortlist with the customer’s visit and the products that need to be experienced. A portfolio becomes more useful when you can see how a practice has handled a comparable visit, rather than only a similar colour palette.

For a boutique built around private appointments, examine the relationship between entry, display and a place to sit with the collection. Can the customer look at a piece comfortably while the rest of the store continues to work? In a furniture showroom, look for complete settings that let people approach a table, try a seat and understand the product within a room. In a shopping gallery, study the route between individual premises and the entrances, shared spaces and building systems around them.

Those needs explain the different references above. ST Design names fashion and jewellery boutiques. The Euromobil showroom attributed to Matteo Thun & Antonio Rodriguez offers an architectural setting for kitchens. Lombardini22’s Galleria Alberto Sordi work addresses the wider property. AD’s Eden example is hospitality evidence of material and fabrication development; ask for retail references relevant to your own commission before treating it as direct proof of a store project.

Then compare what each proposed team will develop and what the people carrying out the work will receive:

Compare the fee with those deliverables. Furniture selection, a brand concept and a complete interior appointment involve different work.

For decisions within the store itself, AD’s guide to nine retail interior design decisions explores the relationship between products, service and space.