Located in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland, between land and lake in the hamlet of Pojana, Ristorante Terminus reopened after more than a year of refurbishment. It is now modern, stylish and inviting: a haven of gastronomic delight, specifically seafood. It offers beautiful dining rooms suitable for every event, a smoking lounge, a well-stocked cellar, a terrace overlooking the lake, and relaxing gardens.
The restaurant is housed in a structure built at the end of the 1800s as a stopping point for stagecoaches and, in the 1980s, was transformed into a restaurant with accommodation.
Taking as their starting point the building’s wooden herringbone façade and prevailing grey colour, architects Gaffurini Pagani Tresoldi Associates developed a project that respects the existing structure without affecting the delicate relationship within its setting.
The project used ceramic materials as the basic element to maintain an effective yet innovative design. Drawing on the tradition of fishmongers, the revisited modern style plays with the shades of thousands of tiles that cover the walls.
However, the space remains very inviting. The dining room has a fireplace, beautifully-laid round tables and a sofa for 10 people. The large windows with views of the lake, encourage guests to enjoy the finest dishes in complete relaxation.
An intimate atmosphere is also found in the smoking lounge with a fireplace and leather sofas. Two fully equipped meeting rooms are located along the loggia, allowing business guests to organise their own retreats at Porto Pojana.
But the stand-out feature of the design is the interplay of thousands of three-dimensional tiles with semicircular section, which cover the walls like many coloured crayons,
A new post by Joe Simpson, Diary of a Tile Addict, April 2017.