Spazio Leone Gallery unveils showroom in former Victorian textile factory

Collectible design gallery Spazio Leone has opened a larger showroom in east London, with a neutral interior that "allows the works to breathe".

Spazio Leone founder Gennaro Leone wanted to keep the existing industrial feel of its Dalston showroom, which features structural pillars and polished-wood floorboards.

"The space was previously a Victorian textile factory, a working building with a raw, industrial character, an amazing wooden floor and a special energy," Leone told Dezeen.

"We didn't want to over-design it; the idea was to preserve its atmosphere and work with what was already there. Our interventions were minimal: we updated the lighting and electrics, painted the walls and redid the kitchen."

The gallery will be open by appointment during the week and to the public on Saturdays, and shows a small part of Spazio Leone's collection, which is available for sale and private hire.

Among the pieces on show are historic designs by architects Carlo Scarpa and Alvar Aalto, as well as contemporary works by designers including Grace Atkinson.

"The selection happened quite intuitively," Leone said. "We didn't approach it with a fixed checklist."

"Some pieces had been with us for a long time, others felt right for this particular space," he continued. "Once everything was physically inside, we moved things around until the relationships felt natural."

The gallery space was kept deliberately clean and pared back to function as a background for the design pieces.

"The neutrality allows the works to breathe," Leone said. "We didn't want the space to dictate too much."

Spazio Leone Gallery was previously housed in a smaller space in the nearby Hackney Downs area.

But while the interest in collectible design has rapidly increased in recent years, this wasn't what drove the move.

"The larger space wasn't a direct response to the market," Leone said. "It was more about finding a place that truly reflected how we want to work and what spaces mean to us."

"Of course, the growing interest in collectible design creates energy and opportunity, but for us the move was more personal than strategic," he concluded.

Gennaro Leone was among the designers that Dezeen spoke to in an article that looked at the increased interest in collectible design last year.

Recently, fellow London gallery Max Radford Gallery showed emerging designers at Collect, where designer Jihyun Kim was also showing gloopy ceramics.

The photography is by Celia Spenard-Ko.

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