Audemars Piguet Unveils New AP House in Milan
● The luxe watchmaker is opening a unit in Garage Traversi and retooling the AP House concept from 2017.
MILAN — Audemars Piguet's AP House concept is going back to the future, as the Swiss watchmaker has unveiled a new space in Milan, the city where the concept was first introduced in 2017.
Part retail space, part salon resembling a tony apartment or house, the AP House Milano has relocated to central Via
Bagutta in the Golden Triangle luxury shopping district inside Garage Traversi, a recently revamped former parking lot and an original example of Rationalist architecture designed by Giuseppe De Min in 1939.
Louis Vuitton has been a tenant of the space's first three floors since 2022, when renovation work for its flagship on nearby Via Montenapoleone kicked off.
The high-end watchmaker has taken over 17,222 square feet across the building's fifth through ninth floors connected via a spiral staircase, conscripting Milan- and New York-based architectural firm Lissoni & Partners to design the spaces. AP House was previously located on nearby Via Verri.
"The new AP House Milano brings a fresh and forward-thinking perspective to the initial AP House concept that started in Milan in 2017. It is an honor to open our new location in such a prestigious and iconic setting as the Garage Traversi, a location which reflects Audemars Piguet's commitment to preserving and highlighting the local savoir faire, past and present," said Andrea Cardillo, Audemars Piguet Italy country general manager.
The design firm took cues from Audemars Piguet's home region, Switzerland's Vallée de Joux, coming up with an eclectic combination of materials — from wood and glass, juxtaposed in the entrance hall to create contrast, to metal — and echoing some of the company's signature brand identity codes, including the guilloché motif that debuted with the Royal Oak watch in 1972 and here appearing as a decorative floor accent on the fifth floor.
In sync with the AP House concept, Milan's outpost is marked by elegant spaces and sleek interiors with high-end furniture by masters of Italian design including Osvaldo Borsani, Franco
Albini, Ettore Sottsass, Vico Magistretti and Achille Castiglioni. In addition to a lounge space intended for both existing clients and potential customers, the location features an exhibition floor displaying contemporary and heritage timepieces, as well as an inspection and customer care area where visitors can see watchmakers at work.
The unit is topped by a rooftop overlooking Milan's skyline.
"Audemars Piguet gave me the alphabet of the project, outlining its various facets to imagine a hybrid space that could be at once a home and a club, a place to read books and enjoy culture and food. A place to discover watches, but not always and not only. Above all, a place inspired by Milan and its history. It is with this narrative in mind that I began to design this project,” said Piero Lissoni, the architect and designer who founded the Lissoni & Partners firm.
Boasting artworks lent by the Francesca Minini Gallery hanging on the walls and a piano and vinyl station, the watchmaker's cross-industry AP House concept is complemented in Milan by a virtual reality experience named “The Clockwork Forest” and developed in partnership with tech company Dreamscape Immersive.
The new AP House Milano marks the 19th outpost opened over the past seven years. Other houses are located in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Barcelona, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Munich, New York, Shanghai, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and Zurich.