Some projects begin not with the desire for the extraordinary. But with something far more grounded — the question of how a space should actually work.
The Brief
The owner of this villa in Switzerland was in the midst of a full renovation. His actual car collection has a home elsewhere. This garage was meant to be something different — not a stage for rarities, but a garage for everyday life. Used by the family, by the nanny, by guests. Designed with care, but without pretence. No excess for the sake of it.
UNIQUE Garages was brought in early — early enough to influence not just the design, but the floor plan itself. The entrance. The layout. The question was: what makes a space like this special, without overwhelming it?
First Impressions Matter — Even in a Private Garage.
Before design, there was a more fundamental problem. The originally planned entrance simply hadn't been thought through. A narrow door, a cramped antechamber — anyone arriving with luggage found themselves quite literally facing a wall. Not a fitting welcome for a house of this calibre.
We redesigned the entire entrance from scratch. The antechamber was enlarged, a small storage area integrated, the door repositioned. Whoever enters the underground garage now walks straight in — no squeezing, no detours. Flanked by lighting on either side of the door, with an illuminated LED step that lends a quiet sense of occasion to both arriving and leaving. Small in gesture. Significant in effect.
The Workbench of Memories.
Those who move mountains professionally sometimes need the opposite at the weekend. A place to hammer. To saw. To run a circular saw without disturbing the rest of the household.
The villa had been considered on every square metre — representative, immaculate, impressive. And yet nobody had thought about where any of this might actually happen. Where you could saw and build with the children, get your hands dirty. Where the life that isn't made for guests could take place.
A room at the back of the garage had been earmarked as storage — space that wasn't really needed for anything in particular. We suggested turning it into a small workshop instead. A place for quality time with the children. Where not only birdhouses and soapbox cars come to life, but the moments one remembers years later. Because a beautiful home must be more than a backdrop — and real life needs room to breathe.
A View That Greets You Every Day.
A garage is one of the few spaces in a home that remains unscripted. Not a reception room, not a guest suite, not a curated living environment. A place where things are possible that find no room elsewhere. We always see that as an invitation.
The far end of this underground garage was dark. So we brought light into it — but not with a fixture. With an image. A large-format, backlit panoramic photograph that fills the entire wall and transforms the space.
The choice of image we left to the owner. Not as a design decision, but a personal one: is there a place that simply does you good? An image you would welcome every morning — not because it is beautiful, but because it stirs something in you? He named a lake near Kitzbühel. That is where his safe haven is.
Those who leave the house in the morning see it. Those who come home in the evening see it again. A positive emotion, every day, without ever having to think about it.
The Leather and the Logic behind It.
The columns are clad in leather — for a reason so obvious one wonders why it isn't done more often. Concrete columns in a garage are rough, cold, unforgiving. Leather is the opposite. It protects clothing from dust and abrasion, shields paintwork when passing close — and feels warm and pleasant to the touch. Not a showpiece in the traditional sense, but above all a considered decision. Extravagant? Yes. But practical. And unmistakably unique.
The Wall Nobody Expects.
Refined — But Grounded.
What we learned only later: the architect had already delivered a design. Very modern, LED strips throughout. The owner didn't connect with it. What he saw reminded him of the car park of a upscale shopping centre — not a home. So he came to us. Quietly, in parallel, without any fuss. He wanted to know whether it could be done differently.
The rest is history.
Sometimes it's the workbench in the back corner. Sometimes the lake on the far wall. Sometimes simply a door that finally sits in the right place. At UNIQUE Garages, every project begins with the question of how a space should feel — and ends only when the answer is right. Have a project in mind? Let's talk.
