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Feb 9 - Feb 16,2003 |
Early design lessons from mamma and papá
Toronto interior designers Elaine Cecconi and Anna Simone draw strengths from family
By Mark Curtis
Originally Published: 2003-01-26
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Interiors designed by Elaine Cecconi and Anna Simone
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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.
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