Curving and double-curving metal for custom-made interiors

Curving metal for custom-made interiors is one of the most complex yet exciting challenges that characterize the contemporary world of interior design. From double-curving surfaces to organic shapes, every project requires a specific balance between design vision and technical feasibility. In this article, we will show our approach through real case studies, trial and error, engineering, and craftsmanship.  

Curving metal for custom-made interiors: beyond wood

When you think of Devoto, you think of wood. Our work does not end there, though. In the interior contract world, we are often asked to face complex requests: organic surfaces, fluid shapes, non-linear geometry. And when metal is involved, the challenge gets bigger.

Curving metal for bespoke interiors, especially double-curving metal, is not just a matter of production, but a whole process that involves design, engineering, and problem-solving skills.  

Double-curving metal: between limit and solution

Unlike wood, metal has more limits in terms of processing. It is not always possible to obtain consistent and complex surfaces starting from plain sheets. And that’s where our approach makes a difference: break down to build up. We examine the shape, analyse it, we divide it into sub-elements and then we put them together again consistently with the starting design intent.

And this approach is not just a philosophy. We have been putting it into practise for years, dealing with projects with different scale, function or complexity.  In the following case studies we will show you how curving metals can turn design ideas to real objects.

Case study 1: the reception of the Hotel Romeo Hadid Rome

The first request was ambitious: double-curving surfaces in brass, consistent, no visible joints. From a construction point of view, though, it was not possible to reach such complex shapes with plain brass sheets. We proposed an alternative solution: a brass-like-finished resin, a special painting technique we have tested and perfected in the last years. The client was not keen on giving up the real material, though. So all we could do was to find another solution.

We divided the brass surface into smaller and construable elements: the brass “scales” that we could bend and curve to reach the organic shape according to the original design intent.

Case study 2: the lobby of the Hotel Romeo Hadid Rome

For the lobby of the Hotel Romeo Hadid, the design called for the creation of suspended stainless steel elements: light, articulated forms that look like “whale skeletons.”

They have complex, three-dimensional geometries, seemingly impossible to replicate using standard components. The specification required satin-finished AISI 304 stainless steel, shaped into organic forms and double-curved surfaces, where the aesthetic dimension had to seamlessly align with the structural one—ensuring every weld was not only strong but also visually flawless.

Once again, the key lay in approaching the project not as a single object, but as a system. We therefore worked on dividing the structures into sub-elements, developing a modular solution: each component was designed and engineered to be manufactured, transported, and assembled, using rolled elements joined through precision welding.

This approach made it possible to preserve the overall visual lightness while ensuring stability and accuracy. The entire system was then hand-satin-finished, unifying textures and reflections to guarantee visual continuity across the surface, and delivering a final result that is solid, coherent, and highly controlled—even in the most technical details.

A crucial role was played by the dialogue with specialized partners capable of advanced 3D modeling and bespoke production, sharing the same technical and design language. The project was also supported by an intensive research and development phase and a meticulous executive design process, with continuous coordination between the technical office and production departments—from laser cutting to bending, from rolling to welding. Pre-assembly tests were carried out in the workshop to verify tolerances and geometries, ensuring precise on-site installation and the flawless performance of the entire structure.

Case study 3: the restaurant counter of the Hotel Romeo Hadid Rome

The front of this counter is in black Marquinia marble, interlaced with stainless steel inlays with variable section that look like solidified lava. The challenge? Curved, irregular surfaces, marked by concavities and protrusions. The solution lay in meticulous craftsmanship: the marble portions were custom-made, and the stainless steel profiles— fabricated on templates we engineered—were installed and secured through mechanical torsion, directly on site. The result is a continuous, fluid element, free of visual interruptions.

Case study 4: Enel bench

The bench we made for Enel is a clear example of how an apparently simple object can conceal significant construction complexity.

This project features a continuous seat obtained from a single sheet of satin-finished stainless steel, curved and supported by an internal metal substructure.

The main challenge was not the curvature of the sheet, but the final outcome: a seamless, clean surface without visual interruptions. It required an extremely precise approach to bending, tolerances, and assembly, with the goal of eliminating any visible joints or welds.

The result is an element that is essential in form yet highly sophisticated in its making, where technique disappears to leave room for the perception of continuity.

Case study 5: the “petal wall” at Per Me restaurant

At Per Me, the restaurant by chef Giulio Terrinoni, designed by Alvisi Kirimoto, we created a scenographic wall composed of hundreds of metal elements.

What appears to be a simple pattern is in fact the result of a highly intricate construction: each element—that we like to call “petal”—has its own degree of curvature, opening, and inclination. No two pieces are identical, and it is precisely this controlled variation that generates movement, depth, and vibration across the surface.

The entire process was fully handcrafted. Each element was individually shaped, finished, and installed, following a highly precise design scheme. It is a project where scale is inverted: small components, great complexity—and where craftsmanship becomes an integral part of the final result.

Curving metal for bespoke interiors: Devoto Design’s approach

Being an interior contractor means knowing the secrets of all materials, not just from an aesthetic point of view, but also technically and production-wise speaking.

Lately, thanks to the project challenges we have faced, we have learnt to work metal like we work wood, with the same technical approach: study, experimentation, modelling, engineering. Technology changes, processes are different, but our methodology stays the same.

And, in the end, metal can turno into fluid matter too.