The living room gathers a Castiglioni-designed Arco floor lamp with a Carrara marble base, a tan leather beanbag, bouclé seating and a copper-toned wire coffee table beneath exposed beams. A green marble and lacquer console runs along the delicately frescoed wall, its painted panels and blue frieze softly faded.

Punto Zero Bring Theatrical Contrast to a Historic Ferrara Apartment

Words by Eric David

Ferrara, Italy

We have a soft spot for designers who approach historic renovations with a degree of creative irreverence, treating the past as a living presence robust enough to withstand contrast, surprise and even a little theatricality. Casa Fràra, a two-storey apartment in the historic centre of Ferrara renovated by Rome-based architects Punto Zero, belongs firmly to this camp. Instead of tempering their intervention to match the building's age, the architects set its exposed timber ceilings and rediscovered frescoes against glossy brass, sculpted joinery and crisp contemporary forms, creating what they describe as “a narrative made of dissonant and unexpected accents”.

The project’s defining gesture is the double-flight staircase clad entirely in brass. Conceived as a scenic architectural device more than a purely functional one, it threads its way through the apartment, lending the historic interior an unexpectedly cinematic quality. Brass wraps the treads and risers, lines the stairwell and extends into the living area as a suspended shelf embracing the partition wall. Punto Zero partner Arianna Nobile describes it as “a sort of golden tunnel” that emerges from the stairwell, becoming first an entrance niche and then a gleaming object before continuing into the sleeping quarters above.

A tan leather low-slung armchair sits beside a green marble console lined with glass bottles and silver shakers. Behind, the restored fresco reveals its geometric panelling and blue palmette frieze. Sage-dipped linen curtains filter daylight across the herringbone floor, the palette warm and quietly domestic.

Photography © EllerStudio.

The brass-lined staircase niche extends into a suspended shelf embracing the white partition, two ceramic vases resting on its burnished surface. Above, a brass-lined soffit reflects the exposed rafters back into the room. Warped reflections of the sage curtain and living room ripple across the stairwell lining.

Photography © EllerStudio.

The full living-room elevation reads as a study in contrast: a white lacquered wall punctured by brass-lined recesses, one displaying Murano glass and porcelain, another framing the stair. Exposed timber beams cross overhead, while a frescoed panel and a green marble console anchor the left edge.

Photography © EllerStudio.

  • A brass-lined vitrine cuts through matte white joinery, its warm reflective backing amplifying the collection within: fluted red glass vessels, silver candelabra and a pair of ornate white porcelain amphorae. Concealed lighting deepens the metal's glow against the flush, handle-free cabinetry.

    Photography © EllerStudio.

  • The brass staircase seen in section: stacked golden treads climb behind a mirror-polished screen that doubles the frescoed wall, bouclé sofa and arc lamp back into the frame. Exposed rafters float above, and the herringbone parquet runs beneath, folding two rooms into a single reflective plane.

    Photography © EllerStudio.

  • Close on the brass staircase, where rectangular sheets stack in a loose bond and each fold catches light differently, ranging from mirror-bright to deep amber. The white plinth beneath holds a sharp horizontal line, and herringbone walnut meets the metal edge without ceremony.

    Photography © EllerStudio.

  • The brass stair volume seen from the living room, mirror-polished panels reflecting a carved wood chair and the enfilade beyond. Beside it, a ring-shaped sconce and a discreet brass-edged doorway; herringbone walnut and a corner of bouclé anchor the composition in warmth.

    Photography © EllerStudio.

  • The brass stairwell in close abstraction: rectangular sheets stacked in a loose bond, each panel bending light into warped bands of amber, bronze and near-white. Reflections dissolve into unreadable shapes, the surface tipping from architecture towards pure material incident.

    Photography © EllerStudio.

The full enfilade reads in one sweep: brass-clad stair wall, dining table in dark carved wood beneath a glass chandelier, and the white stone kitchen island beyond. Herringbone walnut flooring runs continuously between them; daylight through gauze curtains softens the transition from gilt to plaster.

Photography © EllerStudio.

This bold insertion establishes a material language built on contrast. European walnut parquet brings depth and warmth underfoot, laid in French herringbone across the public spaces on the lower level, where the living room, dining room and kitchen are arranged in enfilade, and in straight planks throughout the private quarters upstairs. Between rooms, extra-hard Pietra Serena stone wraps the floor threshold, upper lintel and vertical jambs, turning each passage into a sharply delineated architectural gateway.

In the living room, a slim bespoke console carved from a monolithic block of Guatemala green marble anchors the rediscovered fresco, its vibrant hue lending visual weight to the delicate wall painting above. Marble also plays a prominent role in the bathrooms: Calacatta Oro defines the principal bathing area, while Carrara Arabescato lines the powder room, their expressive grey-on-white veining offset by brass and matte-black fixtures respectively.

  • Two rectangular openings frame the enfilade in sequence, drawing the eye from living room to dining table and kitchen island beyond. A Murano glass chandelier hangs above a carved wood table ringed by balloon-back chairs; coloured glass vases punctuate the pale composition.

    Photography © EllerStudio.

  • A cream Murano glass chandelier, its arced arms and opaline globes filling the frame, hangs above the monolithic kitchen island in veined white stone. Below, a slender leather stool and a mahogany vitrine sit against the pale wall; a brass ring sconce punctuates the plaster.

    Photography © EllerStudio.

The mirror-polished stair screen splits the frame, doubling the frescoed wall, black articulated lamp, green marble console and pale ceramic vases. At the centre, stacked brass treads glow amber. Herringbone walnut runs beneath, real room and reflection meeting along one vertical seam.

Photography © EllerStudio.

Three glass vases in teal, yellow and opaline cluster on the honed green marble console, their curves echoing the painted urn motif. The fresco's faded terracotta and green lines rise behind, while the marble's dense white veining reads almost as landscape against the wall's chalky surface.

Photography © EllerStudio.

The living room framed between white pier and brass screen: frescoed wall, green marble console with glass bottles, tan leather beanbag-like armchair, bouclé seating and a copper wire table. The mirrored panel to the right returns the same arrangement, folding the room back onto itself.

Photography © EllerStudio.

The living room gathers a Castiglioni-designed Arco floor lamp with a Carrara marble base, a tan leather beanbag, bouclé seating and a copper-toned wire coffee table beneath exposed beams. A green marble and lacquer console runs along the delicately frescoed wall, its painted panels and blue frieze softly faded.

Photography © EllerStudio.

This interplay of contrasts extends to the furnishings. In the living room, contemporary pieces characterised by a playful minimalism such as Patricia Urquiola’s Sengu Bold Sofa for Cassina and Verzelloni’s low-slung Zoe Armchair are paired with modernist lighting icons, including Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni’s Arco Floor Lamp and Paolo Rizzatto’s 265 Wall Lamp, both by FLOS. In the adjoining dining room, a traditional dark-wood dining suite and vintage glass chandelier retain the formality of a historic Ferrarese residence, while the kitchen is centred on a monolithic white island whose richly veined surface lends its restrained form an almost sculptural presence.

The brass volume from the entrance side, its mirrored flank carrying the living room's frescoed wall and bouclé seating deep into the metal. Beside it, flush white joinery and a mirror reflecting part of a door with brass knob and lockset; the herringbone parquet turns at the threshold.

Photography © EllerStudio.

The brass-lined recess absorbs the sage curtain and dining chairs into its warped surface. A ring sconce sits against white plaster, while ceramic vases rest on the brass shelf. Beyond a grey-framed opening, another golden panel repeats the gesture deeper in the plan.

Photography © EllerStudio.

Framed by the attic's pitched brick-and-timber roof, a full wall of polished brass folds daylight into liquid distortion, dissolving the sanitaryware and black tapware it reflects. The composition reduces to three elements: raw structure above, mirrored metal below, warm timber underfoot.

Photography © EllerStudio.

A narrow attic corridor lined with white shelving, art books face-out along its length, draws the eye towards a brass-lined bathroom glowing at its end. A skylight and an exposed beam break the plane above; light-toned timber planks run straight towards the golden threshold.

Photography © EllerStudio.

yatzer Fluted-glass sliding doors in slim black frames part to reveal the study, where a blue sofa bed sits beneath the attic's raw beams. A skylight cuts through the timber above; built-in white shelving lines the corridor with books and ceramics.

Photography © EllerStudio.

Upstairs, housed within the building’s attic, the private rooms take on a quieter atmosphere. The bedroom, dressing rooms, study and bathroom suite unfold beneath the sloping timber roof, where strategically placed skylights draw daylight between the exposed beams and accentuate the volume’s irregular geometry. A slatted timber headboard, fluted-glass doors, integrated storage and crisply detailed vanities introduce contemporary precision without diminishing the tactile warmth of the historic structure.

The result is precisely the "warm, anti-minimalist, almost theatrical environment" the clients requested. At Casa Fràra, heritage and contemporary design spar, reflect and amplify one another, and the dwelling is all the more alive for it.

Beneath the attic's timber roof, a slatted walnut headboard runs the width of the room, carrying opaline globe lights and slim brass shelves. Skylights cut between the rafters, striping the timber with daylight. Blush linen and an indigo throw soften the structure.

Photography © EllerStudio.

In the attic bedroom, a vivid orange and yellow figurative painting leans casually against a dove-grey wall, its heat set against the muted plaster. A globe light on a slim brass arm reaches from the slatted walnut headboard; blush linen and an indigo throw sit beneath raw beams.

Photography © EllerStudio.

  • Fluted-glass sliding doors frame a view through the dressing corridor to the master bathroom, where a Calacatta Oro vanity sits beneath brass taps and a mirror reflecting the attic rafters. Bookshelves line the passage; marble floor meets timber at the threshold.

    Photography © EllerStudio.

  • A double vanity carved from Calacatta Oro, its bowls cut directly into the block and its veining running gold through white. Burnished brass wall-mounted taps and a copper beaker warm the composition, while a marble-framed mirror floats against the taupe wall.

    Photography © EllerStudio.

  • The master bathroom reduced to essentials: a freestanding oval bath before a book-matched Calacatta Oro wall whose symmetrical veining reads almost as a Rorschach. Twin brass rainheads flank a frameless glass screen; a faceted skylight funnel drops daylight straight down onto the stone.

    Photography © EllerStudio.

  • A burnished brass rainhead and hand shower against pale plaster, the frameless glass screen dividing them from the Calacatta Oro wall and freestanding bath beyond. The brass carries a soft unlacquered patina; light from the skylight above grazes the stone's gold veining.

    Photography © EllerStudio.

The guest WC where Carrara Arabescato's grey veining meets cool Kerakoll resin walls. A slender black-framed basin on splayed legs stands beneath a black oval mirror, matte-black wall taps completing the restraint. The marble's turbulence carries the room's only drama.

Photography © EllerStudio.

In the guest WC, Carrara Arabescato's grey veining runs floor to ceiling behind a black oval mirror and matte-black wall taps. The mirror returns an unexpected scene: a crystal pendant and a stained-glass table lamp on a mahogany chest, glimpsed from a room away.

Photography © EllerStudio.

A pedimented brick facade in Ferrara, its lobed window and oculus set into weathered masonry, a settlement crack running the full height. Boarded timber doors and infilled openings mark long disuse; the composition holds the raw fabric that the interior contends with.

Photography © EllerStudio.