In the historic centre of Rome, between the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, LIÒN is a restaurant and cocktail bar designed by COLLIDANIELARCHITETTO within a historic building dating from the Fascist era. The project establishes a deliberate contrast with the austere architecture of the existing structure through saturated colours, reflective surfaces, circular geometries and bespoke furniture.
Overlooking Largo della Sapienza, the 210 sqm venue develops a strong chromatic and material identity. Teal, turquoise and red run through the furnishings and surfaces, while glass, marble, mosaic, metal and brass define an interior articulated between restaurant and cocktail bar.
A two-level restaurant in the heart of Rome
LIÒN is arranged over two levels. The ground floor, closely connected to the exterior through large glazed openings framed in travertine, accommodates the restaurant and cocktail bar. The basement houses the kitchen, wine cellar and service areas, reached via a marble staircase detailed with brass.
The large openings preserve the relationship with the architecture of the building, while the interior introduces a more dynamic language shaped by curved forms, coloured surfaces and suspended elements.
The circle as a recurring design element
The circle provides one of the recurring geometries of the interior. The motif appears in the slender curved decorative elements that wrap around the space, in the teal lacquered boiserie with three-dimensional diamond-shaped screens and in the structures supporting the suspended bottle display above the bar.
The bespoke furniture follows the same formal vocabulary. Cutlery drawers, menu compartments and metallic details integrate function and decoration, while rounded forms establish continuity between the different elements of the interior.
Glass, metal and colour define the interior
Slender metal structures frame transparent coloured elements, including the discs suspended above the black marble tables and the diamond-shaped components of the bottle display. Coloured glass is used to reinterpret the language of early 20th-century leaded glass through a contemporary architectural vocabulary.
The essential geometries and use of primary colours also reference Frank Lloyd Wright’s exploration of the relationship between light screens and continuous, fluid interior spaces.
One of the focal elements is the long bar counter, intersected by large mosaic-clad columns. Its turquoise diamond-patterned glass front is topped by a thick milled brass surface, while the suspended bottle display above becomes an integral part of the architectural composition.
A palette of teal, turquoise and red
Colour is used as a structural component of the venue’s identity. Teal, turquoise and red define the boiserie, surfaces, velvet seating and furnishings, creating a sequence of intense tones balanced by marble, brass and reflective finishes.
The continuous curved sofa, upholstered chairs and black marble tables create more intimate seating areas, while reflective surfaces amplify the perception of light and colour throughout the interior.
As architect Daniela Colli describes it, LIÒN is shaped by an interplay of “colours, materials and geometries” brought together within a coherent design. Restaurant and cocktail bar therefore share the same architectural language, developed through materiality, light and bespoke furnishings.
Project: LIÒN
Location: Largo della Sapienza 1, Rome, Italy
Architect: COLLIDANIELARCHITETTO
Client: Tridente Collection
Area: 210 sqm (ground floor 93 sqm, basement 90 sqm, outdoor area 27 sqm)
Photo credit: © Matteo Piazza