Palazzo Nani by Studio Marco Piva in Venice

In Cannaregio, a sumptuous home between bacari and artisans

The new hotel is located in the heart of the Cannaregio district, a fundamental route for the urban layout of Venice since the Middle Ages. The Cannaregio Canal was in fact the entrance to the city for those who came from land, from Padua or Treviso, through the lagoon routes. Rich in typical inns, bacari and industrious crafts, the area near the Ghetto, in its simplicity dictated by the rhythms of the know-how of ancient memory , seems to preserve the mansion of Palazzo Nani as if it were a jewel to be preserved, in a fascinating and stimulating contrast.

The story of the Nani family and the palace

The building that houses the hotel is a sixteenth-century mansion that belonged to the ancient Nani family, engaged in the political, social and cultural life of the Serenissima. Over the years, the building has changed its use several times: it was a private residence, Austrian barracks and school.

During the renovation works, Roman floors were found, as well as objects and documents that testify to the ' previous lives' of the building. Some of the finds , recovered and appropriately treated, have enriched the furnishings of the rooms and the garden.

The facade is marked by a game of arches and elegant coats of arms in Istrian stone attributed to the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria who enhanced the building in the seventeenth century. The original decorative and architectural elements have been preserved, paying particular attention to the restoration of historical ornaments, stuccos and frescoes.

Rooms, suites and apartments

The new hotel, which has 52 rooms and suites in addition to 3 private apartments, has become part of the Radisson Collection chain, characterized by exclusive accommodation facilities that reflect the character of the territory , combining hospitality with an authentic flavor with the comfort of a high-profile design.

The renovation project

For this hotel open to the city, Concreta has created all the common spaces on a project by Studio Marco Piva, curated in particular by the interior designer Jennifer Bassani, which has devised a 'box-in-the-box' furnishing concept aimed at maintaining the strong historical identity of the building intact, declining it in an elegant contemporary language.

The spaces are large and bright, covered with chromatic shades that recall the nuances of the frescoed ceilings, in combination with seats with intense colors that refer to the traditional expressions of the territory, to the colors of the water, to the reflections of the glass, inside the gondolas. Every detail has been studied and designed with reference to the city of Venice. The fil rouge of all the rooms, common and private, is the ribbed motif that gives a movement - striped and rhythmic, enveloping and graceful - to the surfaces, whether they are in glass or wood.

The continuous dialogue and the full harmony that characterized the collaboration between the designers of Studio Marco Piva and the Concreta team - from the choice of colors and materials to the sharing of prototypes - is reflected in the harmony between past, present and future that hovers in the rooms.

Non-invasive interior design in an osmotic context

“With the Palazzo Nani project we wanted to create a special place in Venice that would offer the best of hospitality in a evocative and osmotic context” explains Marco Piva. “A new concept of luxury that harmoniously combines history, art and design to offer guests and visitors the most refined welcome, in continuity with the best Venetian tradition Palazzo Nani, thanks to the meticulous restoration of its monumental parts, its friezes and its splendid frescoes, has been brought back to life and will continue to pass on its intrinsic beauty also through a non-invasive but elegant and light interior design. An interior design attentive to formal and material choices, colors and textures that aims to configure new sophisticated environments, a contribution to the magnificence of the city”.

Common areas: restaurants and lounge bar

The main entrance of the hotel houses the console-reception and gives access to the two restaurants and the lounge bar / breakfast room.

In the Private Restaurant, a ribbed glass boiserie backlit milky white marks the space between the seats. The focal element of the main restaurant is a sculptural monolith-filter : a large marble bench with an interior upholstered in a soft teal velvet. Dominating the scene, however, is the curved bar counter that follows the floor islands, covered with a material carpet of white Venice marble alternating with Paradigma marble which contrasts it in a darker shade. The chromatic protagonist is lagoon green declined in different shades.

In the lounge bar, also the breakfast room, we opted for very dark colors that run from wall to ceiling to create an enveloping atmosphere, emphasizing at the same time precious elements custom in metal like the wall bottle holder. To give rhythm to the spaces, the boiserie in ribbed wood, the motif of which is taken from the striped of the ubino colored upholstery that recalls the interior of a boat.

The noble halls

The two lobbies in the noble halls are spaces frescoed with marmorino, muses painted in the ovals above the doors, ceilings with Apollo, Venus and Cupid and Orpheus in Olympus. sumptuous spaces that required particular commitment to harmonize a contemporary style intervention with an ancient dwelling that expresses its sumptuous beauty but also its fragility. Thus the original seminato floor, recovered and cleaned, was combined with a custom made piece of furniture designed by Studio Marco Piva and seats lounge created in collaboration with Natuzzi , as well as tables and coffee tables, always on design.

Targeted lighting

The lighting project includes both custom and catalog luminaires. The technical lights, created ad hoc in collaboration with Artemide, are completed by large circular chandeliers and luminous sculptures a led by leading brands such as Italamp, Flos and Vibia. The decorative lighting was handled by Concreta. The large chandelier made up of opal glass spheres especially designed for this project stands out. The opalescence effect crosses the rooms and common areas like a common thread, recalling Murano glass.

The gym

Housed in a frescoed room, the gym is characterized by the presence of large self-standing cylinders , almost as high as the ceiling and completely equipped, handcrafted in metal curved from Concreta. The upper part has a purely decorative function, while the base is a cabinet to hold towels, products, small tools and accessories. The choice of the upper covering in metal mesh allows you to visually separate the space, maintaining the suggestive lightness given by the perforated surface crossed by the light.

The textile elements

It is not surprising that in a project with a high content of historical and territorial identity like this one at Palazzo Nani, fabrics play a role of primary importance. Here, the declination of the textile elements and the chromatic choices are in direct relationship with the comfort but also the scenographic rendering of the context. Most of the fabrics that dress the hotel spaces are produced by Rubelli , a historic and prestigious Venetian brand. From Rada Tessuti are the bright velvets and from Besana Carpet Lab the colorful rugs that interact with the textures of the floors, giving contrast and dynamism.

The secret garden

Looking ahead, the hotel's large 350 square meter garden will also become a space equipped with a bar counter and open to the city. In addition to an unexpected gondola, in the greenery there are sculptures, statues, benches and sofas and two large stone bathtubs recovered during the excavation works, today returned to new life to tell of a distant past but still throbbing.