On a voyage of discovery

Designing one's own four walls is always a special task for designers. This also applies to the apartment of architect Peter Ippolito and his partner, textile designer Stefan Gabel. In a house from the Wilhelminian period on the outskirts of downtown Stuttgart, the two have designed the so-called Maisonette P155 for themselves. This is a two-story apartment that is spread over 290 square meters and thus offers enough space for retreat and socializing in equal measure. The designers' goal was to combine design and individual expression. To achieve this, they primarily dealt with what they had found and thus embarked on a personal voyage of discovery.

This was accompanied by structural and design challenges, including the floor plan with its pointed shape. In addition, there was the protection of historical monuments, which is why the room layout and the original interior fittings were subjected to careful modernization. Peter Ippolito and Stefan Gabel pursued a strategy that oscillates between subtle appropriation and preservation of the building's identity: the apartment looks like a hodgepodge of personal mementos and furniture from the two residents, some of which was collected on numerous trips. These include, for example, a life-size wooden horse or an antique wooden bench from India. In addition, there are various design classics or specially made furnishing elements. The design signature of Peter Ippolito and Stefan Gabel can be read despite the design diversity of the individual rooms, which can be seen, among other things, in the black herringbone parquet flooring as a connecting element, the asymmetrical wall openings or the consistent play with light and contrasts.

Peter Ippolito and Stefan Gabel paid special attention to the bathroom, which is equipped with faucets from the "AXOR Urquiola" collection. "In a concept where we talk about personality and distinctiveness, we naturally looked for a faucet that would deliver both. An object that fits into the design concept on the one hand, and on the other hand also makes a ‘self-confident’ contribution within this collection of personalities. And that's why we were very happy to choose AXOR Urquiola, which we've always liked and fits in very well here," says Peter Ippolito, who is managing partner of the Ippolito Fleitz Group. To this end, the two designers arranged a vanity unit with a large mirror placed in the center of the room, around which the shower and bathtub are organized. The black wooden floor is also found here, but is replaced in the shower area by tiles in light shell limestone. These extend to below the ceiling and, in combination with the custom-made furniture and the salmon-colored painted walls, give the bathroom a very individual expression. The single-lever basin mixer from the "AXOR Urquiola" collection, with its asymmetrically arranged handle on the side and expressive details, blends into the overall ambience together with the matching bathtub thermostat, becoming part of a journey of discovery that comes to a successful conclusion in the P155 maisonette.