Audemars Piguet has a new 'home-away-from-home' in Milan

AP House in Milan spans 1,600sqm in a historical building.

Audemars Piguet has a new home-away-from-home with the opening of its AP House on Via Bagutta, in one of Milan’s most prestigious neighbourhoods.

It comes seven years after the AP House concept made its debut in this famous Italian centre of history, culture, design, fashion and gastronomy.

Located in the former Garage Traversi, the new space spans five floors and combines heritage and technology alongside highly contemporary design to take the brand’s experiential retail approach to new heights.

Designed as a timeless space for lovers of the brand, the initial AP House concept was created in collaboration with some of the manufacture’s most valued clients.

It imagined how brand founders Jules Louis Audemars and Edward Auguste Piguet would live in the 21st century, travelling the world and sharing their passion for beautiful watches.

The result is a sophisticated space -- the AP House -- where the comfort of home and human relationships take priority.

The first AP House debuted in Milan in 2017 with a conceptual space located on Via Pietro Verri thus strengthening the manufacture’s presence in Italy, a market that has played a key role for the watch industry and for Audemars Piguet in particular, especially with the Royal Oak and the Royal Oak Offshore.

The brand says the new space in the heart of Milan aims to immerse watch lovers in the Audemars Piguet universe and offer them bespoke experiences.

AP House Milano on Via Bagutta is just a few metres away from Piazza San Babila and the famous Montenapoleone fashion street.

Revered for its architecture and culture, Via Bagutta was once home to many artists and intellectuals, including playwrights.

The rationalist-style building, characterised by its curved façades and steel-framed windows, was transformed in recent years to become one of the city’s reference points for luxury shopping.

The design of AP House Milano, with a floor area of over 1,600sqm spread across the building’s 5th and 9th floors, drew inspiration from the natural environment of the Vallée de Joux, home to Audemars Piguet, while giving the space a Milanese twist.

Each of the five floors brings together the brand’s aesthetic codes with Milan’s design heritage.

For instance, a modernist pattern recalling the brand’s iconic Petite Tapisserie guilloché motif which debuted with the launch of the Royal Oak in 1972, immerses guests in the AP’s world.

Playing on textures, contrasts and light, the entrance hall combines a lateral glass panel offering myriad optical illusions with a solid ebony wall reminiscent of the historical Milanese villas of the 1900s, setting the stage for this unique AP House concept at the junction of two worlds.

In addition to the traditional AP House lounge space, where visitors and guests can relax in a homely atmosphere, the new location includes a watch exhibition floor where contemporary and heritage timepieces live side by side in a futuristic display setting (visible or hidden on demand).

The exhibition space is complemented by a selection of vintage furniture and design pieces made by famous Milanese designers.

The AP House also includes an entire floor dedicated to servicing where visitors can admire the watchmakers at work and learn more about the manufacture’s craftsmanship.

The various floors are linked by a spiral staircase – a nod to the mainspring of a watch. As the heart of the building, this staircase represents the space’s inextricable links between tradition and modernity, between Milan and Le Brassus.

Lastly, the AP House has a scenic rooftop with a breathtaking 360° view of Milan’s skyline and historical landmarks, including the Sforzesco Castle and the “Madonnina,” which is the highest spire of the Duomo.

AP House Milano’s visitors are also invited to plunge into the virtual reality world, entitled The Clockwork Forest that takes participants into a magical forest where technological complexity combines with the power of nature. It was developed by Audemars Piguet in partnership with Dreamscape Immersive.

The new AP House Milano joins the 19 existing locations situated in some of the most vibrant cities in the world, including Amsterdam, Bangkok, Barcelona, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Munich, New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Zurich.