Open Architecture, Soft Contemporary
INTERIORS
DESIGNER JUAN POGGI'S SLEEK GABLES HOME
Juan Poggi first landed in Coral Gables in 2006 with a shop on Miracle Mile, and three years later moved to his current location in the Minorca building on Douglas Road. Having studied first in his native Peru and then working in the Design District, Poggi has now done scores of homes, from residences in Panama, Aurba, Paris and Ibiza to eight homes in Gables Estates and numerous others around the city.
For his personal home on San Antonio Avenue just west of the Shops at Merrick Park, Poggi chose a ‘soft contemporary’ style for the open architecture to maximize the sense of space in the 3,000 square foot building. “It is designed mainly for entertaining,” he says, noting that it is a home with “only three doorways inside” – one each to the master bedroom, the bathroom and the second bedroom.
MODERN DESIGN
The space connecting the living room area with the kitchen/lounge area uses three cold-ceramic stones from Belgium to accentuate the curved wall of the bar concealed bar. “I put them in as an architectural element,” says Poggi, “though you can sit on them.” In the background is a walnut table designed by Eduardo Martinez, that can be used as a dining table, or just kept as sculpture.
THE LOUNGE
The lounge space uses five upholstered Naoto Fukasawa swivel chairs (from Luminere on Ponce) focusing on a circular glass table which, at 27 inches, is a perfect height for drink placement (higher than a coffee table, lower than a dining room tables). The circular rug, designed by Poggi, works with the “roundness of the setting,” he says.
THE KITCHEN
“I designed it to look more like a bar than a kitchen,” says Poggi. The cabinets and walls are dark-stained walnut; the counters are done in black granite with “a leather finish” that feels like leather but is actually stone. The fridge and other appliances are all under the counter tops, with Viking appliances from La Cuisine on Aragon. The blonde wooden grid on the ceiling is designed to hide the exhaust openings above the stove.
THE BEDROOM
“I wanted to play with the geometry of the space,” says Poggi, who framed it using a Max Alto bed with an oak four-poster. The nightstands are also done in a darkly stained oak; the chair to the left is a ‘mummy’ chair wrapped in an elastic material. The bed also has storage, and sits on a custom-made wool rug edged in canvas material.
THE BATHROOM
The bathroom continues the geometry of bedroom with a ‘Japanese’ sliding wall that adds a layer to the glass wall. The shower is backed by a limestone wall from Spain. The toilet is Japanese from Designer’s Plumbing & Hardware on Douglas; the seat is heated, the toilet flushes automatically, and there is a built-in bidet.
Photos by Carlos Domenech
