Early design lessons from mamma and papá

Toronto interior designers Elaine Cecconi and Anna Simone draw strengths from family

The two women are a genuine study in contrasts. One has a quiet presence and after working long hours she enjoys sitting at the piano and playing classical pieces by Chopin, Schubert and Shostakovich. The other is a gregarious former high school athlete who maintains a strict fitness regimen despite a hectic work schedule. In business together for more than 20 years however, soft-spoken Elaine Cecconi and high-energy Anna Simone have established themselves as one of the most sought-after interior design firms in Toronto.
"We have an approach, more than a style," Cecconi says. The approach begins with a thorough investigation of a client's needs to uncover the message the client wants to convey with their interior space. There is no one Cecconi Simone style because each project presents a different challenge, though the designers favour a simplicity of materials. Cecconi, a second generation Italian-Canadian, says they differ from other interior design firms by helping retail and corporate clients with overall graphic design programs and mission statements. "We get more involved with the bigger picture," she says. They have three associates and maintain a 40-person staff.
They've been looking at the bigger picture since the early 1980s, when Cecconi and Simone discovered a creative synergy between them while both were working at the Marshall Cummings interior design firm in Toronto. Along with original third partner Richard Eppstadt, they formed a new partnership and began developing a solid reputation by providing interior design programs for retail clients such as Alfred Sung. By the late 80s, the three design partners were focusing on public sector and corporate work, which Cecconi and Simone continue to this day. They've designed more than 1 million square feet of interior spaces for the Royal Bank, for example.
Eppstadt left the firm in 1992 and the mid 90s marked a significant new opportunity for Cecconi and Simone. Loft living had been legalized in the city of Toronto and their firm took on the majority of interior design at the landmark Merchandise Building lofts in the city's downtown. The project marked the beginning of signature Cecconi Simone applications like sliding doors, inboard bedrooms, vertical storage and raised floors, also for storage. It was a chance for homeowners to enjoy custom designs without having to hire their own architects, says Simone, whose parents emigrated from Sulmona, Abruzzi in 1957.
The Merchandise Building project ultimately led to their extensive interior design work in recent years for the skyline-altering CityPlace development on the city‚s waterfront. Cecconi and Simone have designed model suites and space plans for six towers and are now at work on a new presentation centre at Lakeshore Boulevard and Spadina Avenue. Their condominium work has also resulted in seven lines of furniture designed by the partners who last fall opened their own retail shop, Oni One, to expose the growing urban condo lifestyle to a larger audience. The furniture lines range in style from Arts and Crafts to bold Modern, but they all share a multi-functionality which is critical to the small living spaces. The designers' comforting designs ensure that condo-dwellers "don't feel penalized" for choosing this lifestyle, Cecconi says. Simone lives in a condo designed by the firm.
Many of the design ideas they've implemented in their space-challenged condo work, such as chairs that can be fitted with side shelving, may have been the result of lessons learned from childhood. Simone has an older sister Eva and twin sister Roseanna, but homes in the St. Clair and Dufferin area and later north Etobicoke accommodated as many as 11 family members as her parents Matteo and Angela Colasante sponsored relatives from Italy. A kitchen by day became a bedroom by night. The underside of a Parsons table doubled as a discreet storage unit.
Cecconi was born and raised in the northern Ontario mining town of South Porcupine, where her father and uncle managed a hotel established by her grandfather. She was the youngest of five children and she and her two sisters shared a bedroom. Cecconi remembers her mother designing built-in cabinets to make better use of awkward upstairs space. Both designers, it seems, have drawn on early experiences to inform their later work.
Cecconi and Simone also say their heritage has instilled in them a strong sense of pride and a conviction to always put forth their absolute best effort. "We bring this to our work in a big way," Simone says. It's also perhaps why she believes the biggest risk to a career is complacency. They'll have none of it. New international projects include a city subdivision sales centre in Dubai, condo and amenity area designs in Shenzhen, China, seven upholstered furniture collections for a Chinese manufacturer and a line of kitchen and bathroom basins and tubs for a Bologna company. Both Cecconi and Simone say they are always imagining new design solutions. "What we do is who we are," Simone says.

Publication Date: 2003-01-26
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=2260