Short Rent Apartment Design in Italy | Architects for Rental Property

01 — how we work

The obvious apartment gets booked once

The obvious short rent apartment is furnished from a catalogue in a weekend. It photographs acceptably, it is booked once, and it is never chosen twice. Nobody remembers it, so nobody returns to it and nobody recommends it.

What makes a guest pick one listing over the forty identical ones next to it is character: a room that looks like a place rather than a product, materials you want to touch, light that flatters at seven in the evening. That is interior design work, and it is where the difference in occupancy is made.

arcHITects has converted an old factory in Milan into sixteen apartments and an 1896 workers’ village on Lake Garda into six. We design them, we build them, and if you want we run them afterwards.

Permanence of guests and profitability of the apartment. Everything is measured against those two.

→

Tell us about your project

We reply within 24 hours. English, Italian.

apartments from one disused factory

Collegno 7, Dergano, Milano. Four floors, a gym, a planted courtyard and a new excavated staircase that turned a basement into the main entrance.

2009

founded in Milano

230

projects

10+

awards

24h

reply time

02 — what gets it chosen

Four levers, and none of them is the price

Discounting is the only lever an anonymous apartment has left. These four come earlier, and they last.

A room with an identity

One idea per apartment, carried through: a colour, a material, a piece built for that room. Guests describe it to other people, and a listing that can be described is a listing that gets chosen.

Materials that age in public

More than fifty arrivals a year find every weak finish. We specify surfaces, joinery and fittings that keep looking perfect after many seasons, so the apartment does not need a refresh to stay competitive.

Light designed, not bought

Bookings happen on a screen and reviews are written after dark. A lighting plan decided with the layout makes the photographs work and the evenings comfortable. It is the cheapest luxury in the room.

The details guests write about

Where the suitcase goes, whether two people can use the bathroom in the morning, how quiet the bedroom is. Reviews are made of these, and reviews are what the next guest reads.

Collegno 7, Dergano, Milano 16 Apartments — Collegno 7, Dergano, Milano · 16 apartments

03 — how we work

From an empty floor to an apartment people remember

Feasibility. What the building allows, how many units it can hold, what it costs and how long it takes. Written, before you commit top bigger works.

Layout and interiors. Circulation, storage and bathrooms first, then the material palette and the custom pieces. Architecture and interior design in the same studio, so the two decisions are taken together.

Furniture, lighting and equipment. Specified, sourced and installed. Italian makers we have worked with for years, and pieces built for the room when the room deserves them.

Works and handover. Tender, supervision and delivery of an apartment ready to be photographed and listed, not a building site with furniture in it.

04 — after the works

If you want, we run it afterwards

Most owners we work with do not live in Italy, and a finished apartment is only the start of the job. So the studio can stay on after handover, as far into the operation as you want us to go.

At the lighter end: the photographic shoot, the listing set up properly, and the contacts for a local manager we already work with. At the fuller end: we coordinate the management, keep the maintenance under control, and handle the small works that a rented apartment needs every year.

The reason is simple. The person who designed the apartment knows which supplier made the joinery, which lamp needs which bulb and where the shut-off valve is. Handing that knowledge to a stranger is where most of the value built during the works quietly leaks away.

It is optional, and it is priced separately. Some owners take everything, some take only the first season, some take nothing and keep our number for when something breaks.

Collegno 7 Planted Courtyard — Collegno 7 — planted courtyard

05 — the sequence

Four steps

First call

The building, the location and what you want it to earn.

Feasibility

How many units, what it costs, how long, and what the rules allow.

Design & permits

Layouts, interiors and the filings with the council.

Works & listing

Supervision, handover and a unit ready to go online.

06 — units in operation

Some apartments that are being rented right now

Collegno 7, Dergano, Milano. A disused factory recovered into sixteen apartments over four floors, with a gym, a planted courtyard and a staircase excavated to turn the basement into the main entrance.

Residenza Porta Volta, Milano. Luxury range apartments that worked well so far since years.

North Wind Apartments, Lake Garda. An 1896 workers’ village turned into six units. ICONIC AWARD 2024 for Innovative Architecture.

La Caorlina, Venezia. A full renovation in the historic centre, with everything that working in Venice implies.

La Caorlina, Venezia Living Area — La Caorlina, Venezia — living area

North Wind Apartments, Lago Di Garda — North Wind Apartments, Lago di Garda

questions we get

Before you write to us

What actually makes one apartment get booked more than another?

Character and comfort, in that order. Guests describe the one clear idea when they write the review. What makes them recommend the place is a comfortable bathroom and a quiet bedroom. Price is what you discount when neither is there.

Do you handle the management after the works?

If you want. It ranges from the photographic shoot and the listing set up properly, renting it on the main platforms (Airbnb & Booking), the maintenance and the small annual works. Optional and priced separately.

Can you split a property into several apartments?

Often yes. It needs a building permit and some more authorisation and papers. We tell you if it is realistic before you commit.

Do you also furnish the apartment?

Yes. Furniture, lighting and equipment are specified as part of the interior package, chosen for turnover rather than for a private home.

I live abroad. Can you run the project without me?

That is the normal case. Supervision is ours, and you receive photographic reports.

Can you design the interiors only, without the building work?

Yes. Many owners come with a shell already renovated and an apartment that does not get chosen. Layout, materials, lighting and furniture are often enough to change that. Consider that in that case we may suggest minor upgrades if we see a big opportunity doing them.

ready?

Tell us about the property

Where it is, what it is today, and what you want it to become. We answer within 24 hours.

North Wind Apartments, Lago Di Garda Iconic Award 2024 — North Wind Apartments, Lago di Garda · ICONIC AWARD 2024

→

Start here

Answer within 24 hours.

SHORT RENT APARTMENTS — DESIGN AND CONVERSION

SHORT RENT DESIGN IN ITALY