Design

Inside Luxury Interior Designer Paolo Ferrari’s Light-Filled Toronto Studio

The open-concept studio was built in one of IBM’s first manufacturing facilities in Canada

Paolo Ferrari in his studio (Photography: Joel Esposito)

Paolo Ferrari (Photography: Joel Esposito)

Sep 09, 2024

In 2022, world-renowned luxury interior design studio Studio Paolo Ferrari moved from its 1,600 square-foot office in Toronto’s Liberty Village into a 4,200 square-foot space in the city’s west end. The move wasn’t entirely by choice—the building they were leasing was expropriated—but the company saw it as an opportunity to provide its team, which had grown from 20 employees to 42 in a year, with a space that better suited their size and needs.

The process was quick: After a brief search the firm narrowed in on an old IBM factory that had been converted into a building full of artist studios, galleries, and creative consultancies. The space offered an open floor plan, which was a key feature in what the studio wanted. “A tight column grid can be challenging to work around, and having an abundance of natural light was important for us,” says Ferrari.

The existing space was the perfect canvas for their new digs: 15-foot ceilings, four skylights and sixteen windows that sit 38 inches above the ground, wrapping the entire studio to provide just enough natural light without having floor-to-ceiling windows. They moved into the new studio in October 2022, just six months after the project began.

A shot of a meeting room — Ferrari’s vision was ‘classic atelier’: A neutral space that didn’t overly influence their creativity when it came to working with varying design projects.

When it came to the design, Ferrari was insistent it celebrate their highly collaborative working style, which meant no dividers between workstations. “There is something very honest about entering an open creative environment,” says Ferrari.

The floors, walls, and ceilings were intentionally painted crisp white to contrast the warmth of wood and the existing millwork elements from the former office. They also often welcome dogs, so the rugs throughout the meeting spaces were designed using an entry pediment, which is intended for office lobbies as a highly durable and easily-cleaned entry mat.

The desks, which were designed by Ferrari himself, are made of white oak with a cerused finish—a technique that showcases the wood grain. The wood offer a natural and warm surface that feels clean and welcoming. “Our day-to-day consists of working on white screens and sketching on white paper, so the visual warmth of wood is a perfect counterpoint,” says Ferrari.

Here’s a look inside the studio:

A peek into the office showing the natural wooden accents and leather chairs. — For their office chairs, Ferrari decided on all-black leather Eames Soft Pad Management Chairs, which were originally designed in 1958 and have been known to last for more than 60 years. “The combination of comfort, durability and timeless longevity made the choice an obvious one,” says Ferrari.

A shot of a large board room with a tv for video calls and presentations — The studio offers a number of interconnected spaces, including the arrival area, main open studio, one large boardroom, a small meeting room, a server room, a utilitarian kitchen, a library and two storage rooms.

An office with a big bright yellow rug and a wooden door — The office room, which the team often refers to as the “Yellow Office” due to the yellow rug, uses the original front door from their previous Liberty Village studio. “The original door was built by a talented carpenter and friend of the studio. Keeping this door with us in our current office was essential to remind us of our roots.”

A wide shot of the studio showing the large open environment — The studio hosts plenty of international clients in the space at least once per month, but Ferrari wanted to move away from having a designated “client-facing” space—an idea he considers to be old-fashioned. Instead, clients are welcomed right into the big open environment of the studio.

Two people meet in a small room frames by a tall wooden doorway — The small meeting room includes a skylight and has become a place for both one-on-one discussions and roundtable creative brainstorming.

Material samples like wood, marble, and granite sit atop minimalist shelving — Since the new studio has an abundance of layout space, key materials sit on thin metal shelves to utilize the walls. These materials often serve as the starting point for the studio’s design work.

Ferrari works at a desk next to some of his employees — “I wanted my desk to be one of our typical workstations,” says Ferrari. “I didn’t want to be separate from my team.” The third office, which sits adjacent to Ferrari’s desk, allows Ferrari to quickly meet with designers or take a call.

People working on a large boardroom table — The custom monumental limestone boardroom table relates to the proportions of the studio’s communal work stations.

A wall of wood samples — The extensive materials library has a separate door allowing suppliers discreet and direct access to the materials.

Boarding room with warm wooden furniture and a blue rug. the wall have matching wood panelling — Behind one of the oak-panelled walls is the studio’s kitchen. “We wanted to design the kitchen to be communal and away from the main open studio,” says Ferrari. “We concealed the kitchen so it could double as an additional meeting room.”

Ria Elciario-McKeown

Ria Elciario-McKeown is a Filipino-Canadian writer and creative producer. She is the author of the forthcoming cookbook, Make It Plant-Based Filipino.