A villa in the Mediterranean shrubland

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Design and tradition are united in porcelain stoneware - 1

A holiday home on the island of Krk, Croatia, for intimate living. Designed by Ivana Babić with privacy and comfort in mind. Not to mention practicality: porcelain stoneware has been extensively used for indoor and outdoor coverings in the home to combine design and practicality.

Located around a hundred kilometres from Trieste and only accessible via a long bridge that connects the mainland to the island of Krk in Croatia, Villa Aurora is a holiday home designed by Ivana Babić to host a few people who can enjoy the enchanting landscape with its rugged coastline dotted with small bays and rocky beaches. “No more than 10 people,” explains the architect, “to guarantee optimal privacy and comfort in a pleasant environment that blends traditional, modern and design elements.” The building only has four (en-suite) rooms and two common areas: one inside with a kitchen and a counter for a quick snack and one outside with a swimming pool and relaxation area.

The project plays with continuity between indoor and outdoor spaces and between indoor rooms through material references: the large porcelain stoneware slabs from the Grande Marble Look Statuario Lux (120x278 cm size) run from the living room floors to the bathroom wall tiles (120x240 cm and 120x278 cm sizes, including in the Lasa, Brera Grey and Golden White textures from the Grande Marble Look collection), from the backsplash and top of the kitchen island (The Top collection, 162x324 cm size) to the luxurious outdoor shower and indoor and outdoor table tops.

The cold marble effect is contrasted with the warm tactile appeal of wood that defines the Treverkhome and Treverktrend collections covering the floors of the bedrooms and bathrooms. And even the outdoor relaxation area. “There is no aesthetic difference with a parquet floor,” adds Babić. The colours selected from these collections encompass Frassino, Rovere and Rovere Scuro in different sizes for varied, warm and familiar atmospheres.

In the pool area you can relax, cool off and have lunch. The warm shades of Mystone Limestone (60x120 cm and 120x120 cm sizes) were chosen for the poolside, featuring a stone effect with the non-slip properties of innovative StepWise technology, “the ideal solution for an area like this where there is a high risk of falling,” continues the architect, who stresses: “porcelain stoneware is very easy to maintain, which I consider to be an essential quality for a tourist facility.”