Rosmely Steak Room — Interior design and bespoke furnishings for a steakhouse in Bari

The small interior room of a steakhouse in Bari has been transformed into an elegant and cosy space, where built-in furniture and bespoke panelling have given the venue a new look without making any significant alterations to the walls.

2019 · Bari · Restaurant interiors · High-End Interiors

Transforming a room while barely touching the walls

Rosmely is a steakhouse in Bari, with a long-standing reputation in the restaurant business and the retail sale of premium meats. For its dining room, the owners wanted an elegant and exclusive space, with just a few seats reserved for connoisseurs of high-quality grilled meat and fine wines. The challenge arose once the building site was already up and running: the refurbishment work had begun, but the atmosphere of the venue was still not quite right. Barberio Colella Architetti, brought in alongside the joinery firm Coletta Ebanisteria Italiana, stepped in at the last minute, with very little time to spare before the reopening.

The Firm’s proposal transforms the room, renamed the Steak Room, by minimising structural work and focusing primarily on additions, such as fixed furnishings and timber panelling. This approach turns the constraints – a tight schedule and an already underway construction site – into a method: rather than demolishing and rebuilding, the space is clad and fitted out. Thanks to the collaboration with the cabinetmakers, the project was developed and completed in just a few weeks, just in time for the reopening.

The integrated furniture and panelling system defines the entire room: sliding and hinged doors leading to the workspaces and bathrooms; a fitted wall unit incorporating large fridges for drinks and desserts; a large wine rack with integrated linear LED lighting and compartments for wine glasses; a slatted panelling above the natural oak units, illuminated from below. The furniture is made of poplar plywood with an oak veneer, stained black with a golden patina running through the grain; the tables are in solid oak with the same finish; and backlit round mirrors adorn the only bare wall, which is clad in porcelain stoneware.

The contrast between the soft lighting – integrated into the furnishings and provided by concrete pendant lamps – and the dark tones of the furnishings and walls creates the warm, cosy atmosphere perfect for grilled meat and a good glass of wine. On a small scale, the Steak Room applies the approach of the Firm founded by Maurizio Barberio and Micaela Colella: minimalist design, dry construction and timber craft – techniques already tried and tested in other projects by the Firm dedicated to high-quality, detail-oriented interior design.

An overview of the Rosmely Steak Room in Bari

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Technical specifications

Year: 2019
Client: Rosmely Braceria, Bari
Typology: Interior design and bespoke furniture design for the hospitality sector — dining room of a steakhouse
Area: ~50 m²
Status: produced (2019)
Designers: Arch. Maurizio Barberio, Arch. Micaela Colella (Barberio Colella Architetti)
Process: Interior design and bespoke furniture design commission; joinery and bespoke furniture crafted by Coletta Ebanisteria Italiana; project at a site where work has already commenced
Materials: oak-veneered poplar plywood, stained black with a golden patina, solid oak (tables), Ariostea Teknostone Tobacco porcelain stoneware, Creative Cables concrete pendant lights (Prism KPAC01CGN), Pedrali Queen 650 chairs, integrated linear LED lighting, backlit round mirrors
BCA vertical: High-End Interiors + Public & Commercial Architecture

Is it possible to give a venue some character once the building work has already started and you don’t want to redo the brickwork?

It happens all the time: work on a venue is already underway, but the result isn’t quite right, and redoing the masonry would mean time and costs spiralling out of control, as well as delaying the reopening. Interior designers propose catalogues that don’t reimagine the space; generalist firms deliver anonymous interiors. For a steakhouse seeking an exclusive dining room, the challenge is to create a distinct identity and atmosphere in just a few weeks, whilst making almost no alterations to the walls. What’s needed is an interior design project that thinks in terms of additions – with fixed furnishings and bespoke panelling – and that works in tandem with a joinery workshop capable of producing them to a tight deadline.

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, and it’s often the most sensible choice. At Rosmely’s Steak Room, the building work was already underway and the deadlines were extremely tight: rather than demolishing anything, The Firm opted for an additive approach, minimising structural work and focusing on built-in furniture and timber panelling. This approach allows a space to be transformed without disrupting business for long, as most of the work is carried out in the joinery workshop and on-site assembly is quick.

Furnishing means choosing furniture from a catalogue and arranging it; bespoke interior design means reimagining the space. In the Steak Room, built-in fittings and panelling define the walls, access points, lighting and functions: a fitted wall unit incorporating the fridges, a wine rack, integrated doors leading to the kitchen and bathrooms, mirrors and coordinated finishes. The result is a cohesive and distinctive space, not merely a collection of objects.

In this case, it took just a few weeks from design to reopening. This was possible because the project was developed in close collaboration with the joinery workshop that produced the fittings and panelling, thereby reducing the time spent on site. The timeframe depends on the complexity of the project, but the approach of using modular, bespoke furniture made in-house is what allows us to shorten it.

It is the most recognisable feature of the room: a large oak wine rack with compartments for bottles and glasses, integrated linear LED lighting and a slatted panelling illuminated from below. It functions as a piece of furniture, a display unit and a source of atmospheric lighting all in one, and interacts with the backlit round mirrors on the opposite wall, which is clad in porcelain stoneware.

The furniture is made of poplar plywood with an oak veneer, stained black with a golden patina running through the grain; the tables are made of solid oak with the same finish. The only bare wall is clad in porcelain stoneware (Ariostea Teknostone Tobacco) and features round backlit mirrors. Lighting is provided by integrated LED lighting and concrete pendant lamps (Creative Cables); the chairs are Pedrali Queen 650.

Barberio Colella Architetti, a Bari-based firm founded by Maurizio Barberio and Micaela Colella, designs interiors for the restaurant, retail and hospitality sectors in Puglia, southern Italy and internationally. The Steak Room at Rosmely, a steakhouse, completed in 2019 in collaboration with the joinery firm Coletta Ebanisteria Italiana, is an example of a bespoke dining room created to a tight deadline and with minimal building work.

Are you opening or refurbishing a venue?

If you run a restaurant, a steakhouse or a business and are looking for a venue with its own identity and atmosphere – even if work has already started on the site – we can discuss it. An initial video call is all it takes to assess the space, timeline and feasibility together.

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