The Bulgari Hotel Milano, located in the bustling heart of Milan’s stylish Brera district, has a reputation for five-star luxury to uphold. The hotel’s latest hospitality offering to those looking to escape the crowds, hidden behind a reticent modernist facade, is the Dom Pérignon Lounge & Raw Bar. Tucked into a discreet corner of the hotels 4000-square metre private gardens, which are adjacent to the public Botanical Gardens of Brera, this oasis of relaxation is secluded from the city by a tall hedge of red beech trees.

Local firm Fase Modus Architettura worked closely with Cassina Contract on the lounge’s interior styling. The pavilion-like structure balances openness to the surrounding foliage with a sense of enclosed coziness; instead of walls, only partitions made of narrow black rods delineate the space from its surroundings, but a palette of dark materials grounds the space with an atmosphere of intimacy. Dark wooden plank flooring and a structure of wooden columns and beams are topped by a light canopy of canvas, draped awning-like across rows of parallel poles in a matching ivory hue.

A small space, the interior is open-concept, divided between sections for aperitifs and dinner, with the bars, DJ booth and a welcome desk along the perimeter. Ultimately, the purpose of the lounge is to host tastings of champagne, with raw food pairings, so its hours are limited to the evening, necessitating an atmospheric lighting scheme.

The tables and chairs, bars, DJ console and welcome desk, all pared-back and minimal, were custom designed for the lounge by Cassina Contract. These furnishings are uniformly black with predominantly black upholstery; only a few accents in gold, hewing to Dom Pérignon’s brand colours, lighten the space.