SuperFutureDesign* renovates Italian farmhouse with a kitchen at the centre

SuperFutureDesign* has converted an ancient 2,000m² farmhouse, located in a mysterious Italian countryside, into a contemporary home for three families, merging its complex of structures into a single house.

While Italian design is renowned for its elegant applications, the rural culture of the country remains a vital part of Italian tradition and design, in which the kitchen serves as the breathing heart of the home; typically organised around a fireplace as a source of heat.

The architects wanted to translate this cultural element into the layout of the house where, although remaining contemporary in its formality and application, the result stays rooted in traditional Italian values of the home.

In turn, the kitchen becomes a crossroad within the layout of the space, set close to the entrance which allows visitors and home owners alike to pass through it in order to access other areas of the house, from the kids’ room to the laundry room, as well as the garden and the courtyard.

The design itself remains minimalistic but true to its site, using elements of millwork that clad the walls, hiding any visible doors and joints, while the long central kitchen counter stands as the protagonist of the overall space.

“The kitchen is as important to the design as the heart is to the body,” the architects said. “In a contemporary Italian lifestyle, the kitchen and dining areas must be one-space, especially as cooking has become a passion that the owners of the house share with their guests and other family members – and even more so now in times of lockdown.”

Additionally, during the renovation, the architects opened the Masonry wall facing the garden and built a greenhouse that extends to the outdoor park. In this way, the house gains additional space to accommodate a generous dining area that faces the kitchen.