Villa Cannes

The villa is located in Cannes, on the Cote d’Azur, next to a nature reserve with a splendid sea view. The project was the work of French firm Phira, headed by architect Philippe Bonino. The design aim was to create uniform spaces, choosing a warm grey as the dominant colour, in shades ranging through to white, both in the selection of materials and in the indoor colour scheme.


The use of stone-effect stoneware from the Mystone Ardesia collection in the Cenere colour (75x150 cm size) for both the indoor floors and the outdoor pavings enabled the architects to design the rooms and interpret the spaces with great freedom, superseding in-outdoor subdivisions. Mystone Ardesia was also used for most of the wall coverings together with another collection in sophisticated yet distinctive taste: Grande Marble Look, in the Brera Grey variant, Matt finish (120x240 cm size). “We chose Brera Grey as wall covering not because it harmonises perfectly with the flooring, but also for its vibrant, characterful patterning, which enlivens the building’s facade and sets up a counterpoint with the majesty of the nearby and distant environment,” Philippe Bonino explained. And the facade played a central role: “we chose these stoneware slabs as facade cladding because we wanted a material that would create a work of sculpture rather than of mere ornamentation.” The result is a work of minimalist, functional architecture, perfectly integrated into the surrounding landscape.