Penthouse on Piazza Politeama: From Decò Shell to Contemporary Calm
Penthouse on Piazza Politeama crowns a 1930s building in Palermo, Italy, reshaped by Provenzano Architetti Associati as a full-floor home overlooking the city’s theater and port. The penthouse balances a palermitana sensibility with Mittel-European restraint, pairing Deco-era bones with a contemporary interior rich in custom carpentry and carefully chosen furniture. Residents returning from abroad regain Palermo through long views and tailored rooms that invite everyday life and generous hosting.
Light spills through the tall windows onto pale, velvety walls and dark marble. Beyond the glass, the Teatro Politeama anchors the view while the port and hills pull the eye outward.
Inside, rooms gather around a single vast living area that stretches over 100 mq, its surfaces tuned to catch Palermo’s brightness without glare. Every surface, from custom boiserie to bronzed kitchen fronts, supports a refined mix of palermitana imagery and Mittel-European calm.
This penthouse occupies the entire top floor of a 1930s Deco-influenced building facing Piazza Castelnuovo, reworked by Provenzano Architetti Associati. The intervention reorganizes the plan to center daily life in the large soggiorno, connecting it to a convivial kitchen and a smaller TV room. Interior character comes from a precise palette of wood, marble, metal, wallpaper, and contemporary furniture chosen with Longho Design, set against the historical envelope.
Staging The Grand Living Room
The main living room stretches beyond 100 mq, so a central partition in wood, glass, metal, and Nero Marquina marble shapes the volume without closing it. This built element hides climate systems in its upper band and grounds the room with a monolithic marble base that houses a bioethanol burner. On one side, the dining area gathers around a Shade table by Lema with Achille chairs from MDF Italia under the Wireflow chandelier by Vibia. On the other, two Yard sofas by Lema form a conversation zone, softened by Cuscinart cushions and light iron-and-glass Lemante tables from B&B Italia.
Linking Kitchen And Daily Life
The kitchen sits in direct continuity with the soggiorno, extending the living area for everyday meals and larger gatherings. Tall bronzed doors from Modulnova and a generous central island give the room weight, while a Rimadesio Sail sliding door in metal and gray glass can close the opening when desired. When the door is open, kitchen and living read as one long volume, threaded together by shared tones and the view toward the theater. When closed, the glass still keeps a sense of connection, filtering sound yet preserving light.
Layering Texture In The Intimate Rooms
A smaller TV room branches off the main living area, wrapped in Spectra Caisson wallpaper by Arte International that climbs from the back wall onto the ceiling. The cassettonato effect tightens the proportions and gives the Bubble 2 sofa by Roche Bobois a cocooning setting for quieter evenings. Across the apartment, walls finished with Farrow & Ball paint take Palermo’s daylight and return it with a soft, matte sheen. Contemporary art chosen by the clients sits beside a Norwegian Biedermeier secrétaire, reinforcing the dialogue between historic pieces and current works.
Crafting Private Suites
The night zone holds three bedrooms for the family and a separate guest suite, giving visiting friends or relatives privacy within the same roof. In the main bedroom, full-height wardrobes line the perimeter, freeing the center for rest while tucking storage neatly into the architecture. A Turkish bath and an adjoining bathroom clad in marble and resin, completed with Milo fixtures, bring spa-like ritual into everyday routines. Bedroom windows frame another Palermo: the Ina tower from the late 1950s and the mountain ring beyond, a cooler, more distant city than the one outside the living room.
Custom joinery and fixed furniture throughout come from local makers—Falegnameria Italiana for woodwork and Lo Cicero Marmi for stone—with lighting by Davide Groppi’s Infinito system and Lid Design. From the Teatro Politeama to the Ina skyscraper and the surrounding hills, the penthouse becomes an observatory on Palermo’s contrasts and layered geography. As day slides into night, indirect light, dark marble, and quiet textiles hold the city’s glow at the edge of the glass.
Photography by Laura Crucitti
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