Inside The New Suites At The Hilton Molino Stucky Venice

Originally a flour mill, the Hilton Molino Stucky Venice sits proudly on Giudecca Island, a short boat-hop from Venice itself. It’s an Italian masterpiece steeped in history – and acclaimed Italian interior designer Biagio Forino chats to Carole Annett about his vision for the hotel’s reimagined suites.

Designer At Work: Carole Annett Chats To Biagio Forino

An Executive Suite

Did you know the Hilton Molino Stucky before you worked on the renovation? 

The hotel is one of the icons of Venice from both an architectural and design point of view, so I had heard a lot about it and had followed the original conversion of the building, even though I was not directly involved.

The brief included a refurbishment of The Presidential Suite, the largest hotel suite in Venice, which has since hosted Michelle Obama. What was your first impression of the space?

When I first saw the suite prior to the refurbishment, it was all very dark, with wooden boiserie and floors and heavy curtains. Sitting on the top floors of the historic flour mill’s tower, I understood I had literally walked into the highest and largest suite in Venice. It had so much potential. I immediately decided to brighten everything up and let in an abundance of natural light. 

Tell us about the design concept and the inspiration behind the suites.

When I approach a new project, I let myself be inspired by a series of emotions. First, the ‘genius loci,’ the type of building, the view from the windows, and the location. Here, my choice of colour and materials were inspired by its prominent waterfront location and Venice’s thousand-year history. The next step of the project was the creation of the concept and mood, which required approximately a month of design work and research into the proposed materials. You cannot disregard the importance of using environmentally friendly building materials. Once these had been approved. I think one of the biggest challenges was adapting the mood to the various types of layouts and structural elements –  because of Molino Stucky’s history, the building presents a very complex internal structure.

Biagio in the Presidential Suite

Does the Presidential Suite have a separate identity to other suites? 

There is a significant difference between the design of the Molino Suites and the Presidential Suite.The latter’s location on the upper floors of the tower gives it a unique prestige and position and is much grander. It has a large living room with numerous windows overlooking The Lagoon, a very high ceiling with stunning Murano glass chandeliers, and a grand fireplace. On the first floor there is a master bedroom, a twin bedroom, a dining room and a kitchen, and the second floor has a spa with a gym, a steam bath and a Jacuzzi tub. From this area you can directly access the swimming pool located on the rooftop. Finally, you can go upstairs to enjoy the beautiful 360-degree view of Venice. It really is an exceptional space.

The Molino Suites have two separate schemes; the first is a cameo-grey with a touch of red. When the sky is grey the colours of the lagoon become livid, and Venice takes on the languor of an English landscape painting. For the second scheme, I wanted to emphasize the colours of the lagoon through decorative detailing on the furniture. The lagoon has unique hues characterized by a water-green tone leading towards jade green with mother-of-pearl touches. The leitmotif I chose was the aqua-green of the lagoon which we find in the Toile De Venise fabric decorating screens and headboards, in the herringbone texture of the curtains, and in the fabrics on the armchairs and sofas, all produced by Venetian fabric manufacturer, Rubelli.

I wanted to use as many Venetian elements as possible throughout the whole project, from the Rubelli fabrics to the Murano glass chandeliers. Even some of the furniture was made of glass fibre – a material now used to build sailing boats, a tradition in Venetian history. The Venice Carnival gave me the idea of ​​drawing a handful of confetti thrown onto carpets, and the paintings that Grecale created for the suites are embellished with gold leaf brushstrokes recalling the flashes of the mosaic vaults of St. Mark’s Basilica.

What is your most memorable experience of this project? 

When I first saw Molino Stucky, I arrived by water taxi and found myself in front of this majestic building with its splendid tower and brick façade, with dozens of windows and the frieze of the old flour mill with a large clock in the centre. To Quote Henry James, ‘An orange gem resting on a blue glass plate: it’s Venice seen from above.’

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