In Pontresina, on the edge of the town where modern architecture interacts with the woods and Alpine ridges, a young Swiss couple has found their retreat.
Yet, behind its contemporary silhouettes, it guards a great passion: the owners’ love for Italy, for simple quality design, for literature, and – naturally – for cooking.
The heart of the home is a clean and sleek kitchen space. The cool colours of the exposed concrete ceiling and the herringbone parquet flooring (in an ash tone) are expertly ‘cushioned’ by completely smooth walnut wall panelling, whose warm, flame-patterned grain oscillates from golden to reddish hues.
In this minimalist setting, the dining area introduces an emotional gesture: a corner bench with a padded backrest, a table, and typical Alpine wooden chairs with carved hearts. This is a discreet tribute to the couple’s Swiss origins, coexisting in a well-harmonised contrast with the contemporary interior aesthetics.
The kitchen, comprising an equipped floor-to-ceiling wall and a low operational block, is constructed with the same walnut wood and almost disappears from view, blending in with the wall panelling.
However, the true star of the kitchen emerges at the centre of the room: an Abimis Ego island, made from stainless steel with an orbitally polished by hand finish. This is a sculptural element, chosen for its soft texture and for the gentle reflections that ‘absorb’ the colour of the wood.
It is a compact monobloc with rounded edges, featuring a flush-mounted hob and storage compartments on both sides.
Like all Abimis kitchens, this one was made in a single body to ensure absolute hygiene and avoid any crevices where dirt might build up. Precisely for this reason, the island’s arrival at the house was quite an ‘event’ for the entire neighbourhood: it had to be lifted into the house through the window by a crane.
This procedure highlights the brand’s attention to the quality of its kitchens, as well as the care taken in the special Abimis delivery service.
The owners – both passionate about good Italian food – wanted a space that was simultaneously a gastronomic laboratory and a place for sociability.
When they are in Pontresina, they love to cook every evening, experiment with recipes noted in their travel diaries, and invite friends over for a cocktails before dinner, which in the summer months extends onto the terrace overlooking the woods.
They wanted a ‘real’ kitchen; beautiful, yes, but perfectly functional and one that would guarantee the preparation of their favourite dishes. A kitchen that, like the environment hosting it, was both minimalist yet warm, professional yet design-led: in short, capable of blending in seamlessly with this contemporary Alpine setting.
In the Ego line by Abimis, they found the combination they were looking for: a kitchen primarily derived from professional standards, but also featuring the allure of stainless steel, the craftsmanship of the manufacturing, the softness of the surfaces orbitally polished by hand, and a great attention to detail. This includes the rounded doors that are flush with the structure, fitted with pivot hinges – a unique and exclusive (and patented) characteristic of the Ego line.
In this new Abimis kitchen, the stainless steel relates to the vibrant colours of the walnut and the harsh sleekness of the concrete. It is a dialogue between worlds – between Italy and Switzerland, between tradition and contemporary style, between rigour and warmth – which finds its point of balance in the Ego island.
A kitchen designed to be used, lived in, and shared.
An Abimis kitchen.
Photo credits: Frida Selmer