H-Loft

The home designed for Henge owners and couple — CEO Paolo Tormena and architect Isabella Genovese — is simultaneously the place of warmth and welcoming spaces and a manifestation of the brand’s potential.

— It was exciting to reinterpret the traditions of a place and make them captivating for the modern world — says Massimo Castagna, the architect behind the project and Henge’s creative direction. — This space was a granary, a large, unique, charming room with large wooden trusses, without any intermediate column that defied the static nature of the time. Small windows were used for ventilation in the non-residential space. —Massimo Castagna becomes King Midas of the custom experience and creates extraordinary settings using the ancient dexterity of Henge artisans. An anthem to uniqueness, in contrast with modern minimalist seriality, with the white boxes that speak an impersonal language, and the dehumanization of living space. The Soligo River seems like a magical artery of a village that has practiced selfpreservation for centuries, cradled in its own traditions and strange passing of time. From the town’s fairytale-sized dimension to its authentic tastes, people live with passion for their relationships and routines, content with the sunsets that illuminate the terracotta roofs and the colors of prosecco vines. Henge is born between these shores: a pact with the beauty of its original nature, in harmony with its themes and with the community of artisans who retain their secrets. Among its beautiful walls, the Corte del Medà encircles a small village of stories and timeless Venetian style, not only on a compositional level but also on its approach to life and its pleasures.

H-Loft is a pact with the land where it is born, with its traditions and its architecture.

The architect Massimo Castagna collects these nuances in an anthology of sensory experiences and transforms them into an exhibition space and, above all, into a home: the H-Loft. — Traditional poor Italian architecture is characterized by a very strong personality, by elementary volumes designed from pragmatism, and by the functionality destined for the space. — says Massimo Castagna. — It is influenced by the attention to protection from cold or heat and by the use of poor, natural materials found onsite for roofing structures, such as stone, cement, and wood. In its reuse, with the functions of a home today, a priority is the conservation aspect, the enhancement of those characteristics that make the space unusual and exceptional, and protecting its very bold personality and beauty. The project has simple, basic cuts. The area destined for the bedroom and bathroom is inserted in the large volume, creating a new block with its own covering, positioned in a way that keeps the trusses entirely visible. For the rest of the space, the original volumes were preserved, the building’s material witnesses recovered, such as the stone and concrete parts, along with the window cuts. H-Loft — he adds — is a work comprised of few signs to define the architecture and a detailed investigation into furniture and innovative finishes designed specifically for that space, rethinking its functions, exceeding every standard, looking for a new formal and material poetry that links modernity with the character of a place that exudes history and age-old experiences. In this scenario, it is impressive to think how easy it was to insert and integrate Henge products and the ingredients of the brand’s DNA into the project. —

The restoration of an architectural structure as old as the country that surrounds it, the discovery of elements to restore value to, of memories linked to past lives, of dormant art between wooden beams and arched windows of a granary that has been looked at but not really seen: a set of colossal challenges tackled thanks to the dedication and mastery of a project that revolutionizes and respects the soul of that space. The attic where H-Loft is born is rethought of as a real home, where Henge’s craftsmanship and vision touch every corner in one literally unique way.

The H-Loft interior design project is an ever-evolving lived experiment.

It is a space that makes contrasts its signature style: ancient sloped ceilings meet the pentagonal shapes of the Light Ring Horizontal Polygonal to create a play of lights, a contemporary interior com- position overlooking the timeless landscape. Arched windows conserve the building’s authentic brick collection, typical of a preserved and highly respected tradition. The external Corte enters the living space through its imagery, turning the landscape into a fundamental element of the interior design. In the project lives a series of heightened geometric contrasts that are both echoed and a paradigm for contemporary design: a relationship of meeting and confrontation between ancient and new worlds, between architecture and product, where no part prevails over the other, and gives value and thickness in a deep and harmonious balance. H-Loft, a showroom and a home, in its essence demonstrates the life that flows between those who live there and its pieces, not as furniture in a domestic space but as companions on a daily journey that guides emotions. The relationship between original material and contemporary technologies soothes the soul with pieces like the highly expressive monolithic island kitchens, made of giant blocks of cappuccino marble: OZONE-L is a limited edition kitchen created for the loft with experimentation of the folding technique. Diamonds in heat treated woodcuts comprise the hand- made custom floor designs by Henge artisans. The bathroom, bedroom, and kitchen areas are not a living set, but are custom covered based on an ultimate experience of aesthetics and functionality. Rooms that hide behind secret doors of polished brass create intimate and warm spaces that fulfill all housing needs. The focus of a project with this experiential cut is to not leave anything to chance: customized re-elaboration touches every detail inside, from extraordinary doors to elegant recycling bin containers and silverware in oxidized iron, designed to make every custom space of the OZONE-L functional. — Each piece has its own story that we tell through our niche craftsmen, — says Castagna — storytellers who would otherwise be destined to disappear. — H-Loft is the pragmatic opportunity to elevate one’s own design experience, not only to be seen but also to be lived through all the senses. To emphasize this dive into the Henge world and to really understand the philosophy, the project represents an access portal to creative, non-standard processing. Typical elements of a catalog, including measurements, samples, and roles lose their meaning in front of a design verticality, allowing one to get out of the imposed flat limits in favor of a truly unique space. When talking about his experimental house, Henge CEO Paolo Tormena says — When I look at these wonderful pieces that surround me, I cannot do anything but think of the sketches in ink on paper, to the prototypes that were. It is like watching a life grow. — The hidden details complete the experience of truly living in an entirely customized space that embodies the dual soul of both showroom and home.