B&B Italia Outdoor’s First Showroom Opens in Sydney
Space Furniture has opened the world’s first standalone B&B Italia Outdoor store, in a heritage building in Sydney’s Surry Hills.
The world’s first standalone B&B Italia Outdoor showroom has opened in Surry Hills, in partnership with Space Furniture. The showroom – which sits in the Commonwealth Street space that formerly housed Thai restaurant Longrain – is the culmination of more than 30 years of collaboration between the luxury Italian furniture company and Space Furniture, one of the region’s leading design retailers.
“We are blessed with a climate that is conducive to life outdoors, and globally we are one of the strongest markets for the B&B Italia Outdoor collection.”
Sydney, with its alfresco lifestyle and focus on outdoor living, was the perfect choice for B&B Italia Outdoor’s first showroom. “We are blessed with a climate that is conducive to life outdoors, and globally we are one of the strongest markets for the collection,” says Leighton Clarke, Space Furniture’s group CEO for Asia-Pacific. “It makes sense for B&B Italia Outdoor to start here in Sydney.”
The vast spectrum of B&B Italia Outdoor’s range is on display at the new space, reflecting the brand’s 60 years at the vanguard of furniture design and its collaborations with the world’s leading designers. While customers have been able to find a curated selection of B&B Italia Outdoor pieces in Space Furniture’s showrooms in Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, more than 90 per cent of the collection is now available in the Sydney showroom.
In Surry Hills, customers can experience key designs up-close, including Erica by Antonio Citterio, Borea by Piero Lissoni and the Pablo collection from Vincent Van Duysen, as well as pieces by Patricia Urquiola and Monica Armani. The wide variety of fabrics on offer, coupled with the breadth of pieces on display, offer Australians more scope to tailor pieces to their “individual needs and aesthetic preferences”, says Clarke.
The showroom’s design pays respect to the building’s age and heritage. “Restoring and celebrating these original features was a key part of our vision,” he says. Original beams and flooring were retained, while newly installed windows help draw the outdoors in. Space worked closely with the B&B Italia team in Milan to distil the brand’s values and design language into the retail arena. This is showcased in the oversized lightboxes and zoning screens, which Clarke says “embody the brand’s sophisticated aesthetic”. A specialist team trained by B&B Italia is on hand to guide visitors through the shopping experience.
B&B Italia made its first foray into outdoor furnishings in 1975, in partnership with Italian designers Afra and Tobia Scarpa, long-time collaborators with the furniture house. They travelled to the Philippines to study local materials and craftsmanship, inspiring a fusion of traditional weaving techniques with modern Italian design vernaculars. B&B Italia Outdoor was established in 2007. It launched with Urquiola’s wicker basket-inspired Canasta collection, which has since become a cult classic. That set the stage for collaborations with renowned designers, including Citterio and Lissoni.
“This partnership and level of trust between the two brands was fundamental to the opening of the new showroom,” says Clarke of the world-first store. “The new space enables us to share the full B&B Italia Outdoor story with our clients more comprehensively.”
