DESIGN POSTCARD: The Lève Bar
Decorated like a 1960s office, this might be the coolest workspace you’ve ever been to.
Hotels and restaurants have long been a great source of inspiration for our own interior design schemes. They can exist as a sort of testing lab for ideas, in part because they are deliberately created as escapes from everyday life and also because they are places we tend to pass through, so the décor can afford to be bolder and more adventurous.
I always recommend looking at hotel bathrooms if you are planning an en suite of your own, since they are often small windowless spaces that have to be both beautiful and functional, while restaurant loos can be great places to visit if you are thinking about redoing your cloakroom (as my grandmother liked to call hers).
And who can forget that period in the early 2000s when everyone’s kitchen looked like the local pizzeria? There were endless house tours in interiors magazines featuring industrial-style stainless steel worktops with mismatched chairs and battered farmhouse tables (usually with painted legs) under a naked lightbulb or three. The giant chalkboard often turned up as well, used in a domestic setting for shopping lists rather than menus.
But no one, as far as I’m aware, has ever said: “Hey, let’s make a restaurant that looks like the office - and when we’ve finished serving lunch, we’ll make cocktails for the post-work crowd as well.”
Until now…
The Lève Office bar in Turin has done just that - and it’s fabulous.
Admittedly it’s more Sterling Cooper than Lumon Industries, but God it’s good. I went for lunch last week. We arrived at 12.50 and it was mostly empty, so I managed to take some pictures. Ten minutes later the place was rammed, so I’m clearly not alone in my rapture (the menu is sandwiches, salads and sushi: nice, but not groundbreaking).
In addition to the brown leather banquettes and deep red gloss tables on the ground floor, there is a mezzanine level with booths, and you can just imagine all the whispering that’s going on in those at cocktail hour. It’s the perfect place to conduct an office affair. In fact, it might end up being responsible for starting some.
From the cantilevered office style chairs to the mirrored ceiling and supporting pillars under the vintage chrome lighting, it’s completely of its time (the Sixties) and yet completely of this time.
I don’t suppose anyone actually worked in an office that looked this good, but the cultural references are so strong it’s instantly recognisable. And equally desirable.
Italian architect Fabio Fantolino has created three distinct zones - the bar area where you arrive, the main dining space, and those booths on the upper level.
Speaking to Dezeen, he said: “The 1960s were chosen as the reference period because they marked a time when offices were regarded as prestigious and carefully designed workplaces – the ‘office bar’ concept, on the other hand, reflects the way we work today.
“It is conceived as a space that supports the everyday rhythm of contemporary office life, whether for breakfast, lunch, coffee breaks, or aperitivi, while also acknowledging that work can naturally extend into hospitality spaces.”
While it has been put together to create a retro vibe, the colours and materials are all very on-trend now. Gloss and chrome are starting to filter through, while bouclé (seen on the mezzanine level) has been here for several years, although it’s definitely time we moved on from the ubiquitous cream version. I also would venture that the mania for installing period-style panelling everywhere has peaked - and in its place, we’re starting to see a resurgence of the mid-century fashion for cladding walls with large-scale sheets of veneer that wrap the room like wooden wallpaper. And let’s not forget that glass bricks are also on the upward trend.
As for the question of whether the design of this commercial space will find its way into our residential ones, I think it’s already begun - and it’s only going to grow.
Will you be bringing any of these ideas home? Below the paywall are some pieces and places to buy them to get you started.
Lève Office Bar, Via Stampatori, 21, 10122 Torino TO, Italy
Thank you so much for reading and subscribing to Mad About The House. This is one of two free posts every month, but I often add a bonus for paid subs below the paywall - and today it’s Get The Look: a selection of homewares inspired by this post.
