From the moment the first Faena hotel opened in Buenos Aires, it announced itself in saturated reds, theatrical flourishes and unapologetic glamour. When the group expanded first to Miami and then New York, the expectation was clear: the design would be immersive, layered and art-led – a space where colour, texture and narrative collide.

To help realise that vision in New York, the team turned to Designer Rugs and collaborator Silvana Azzi Heras, founder of the House of Heras, to deliver quality, logistical excellence and out-of-the-box design solutions.

Silvana was no stranger to the Faena world. As a key creative contributor to the Miami project – working alongside Designer Rugs and long-time collaborators Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin – she had helped shape the brand’s visual language.

And at the heart of the new brief? Rugs.

For Silvana, the choice of partner was instinctive and obvious – Designer Rugs. With global capabilities, technical skills and decades of experience in high-spec projects, Designer Rugs was the perfect collaborator.

“Anytime there are rugs or carpet needed in a project, I work with Designer Rugs,” she says. “They are amazing and so professional to deal with.”

Behind the scenes, Lia Pielli from Designer Rugs became the linchpin connecting with Silvana in Sydney, interior designer Peter Mikic in London and Faena in New York. From early sampling through to installation, Lia managed the intricate choreography required to deliver hand-tufted, New Zealand wool rugs into a building where geometry was anything but predictable.

Creating Faena's Vision: Precision in Every Thread

The brief from Faena founder Alan Faena was deceptively simple.

“There were no design notes,” Silvana recalls. “Just these are the colours the hotel is working with.”

At the centre of it all was a very particular red. Not cherry. Not brown. A red that has become known internally as Faena red.

Working with Peter Mikic and Designer Rugs, Silvana developed a suite of bespoke designs for the guest rooms – Clouds and Rockpool in three colourways – as well as a distinct design, Webbed, for the Presidential Suite.But this was no straightforward production run. The building itself twists and shifts in form. No two floors are the same. There are no simple rectangles. Which meant no two rugs were the same either. Every piece was custom designed in colour, scale, and shape.

The corridors proved the ultimate technical challenge. Unlike standard linear hallways, these were intersecting H- and P-shaped spaces, with bordered designs that had to align perfectly across irregular floorplates. Every pattern needed to visually flow, even though each section was produced and delivered in multiple pieces for installation.

It required forensic attention to floorplans, relentless coordination with onsite construction teams and a level of precision only possible through deep custom expertise – a Designer Rugs specialty.

“The twisted structure of the building meant the bordered corridor design had to join seamlessly,” Lia explains. “There was a lot of back and forth with measurements and details, but we achieved a beautiful outcome.”

And that outcome was entirely hand-tufted – including the corridor carpet – adding another layer of complexity to an already ambitious project.

Expanding the Story

As the project evolved, so did the brief.

Silvana was asked to design rugs for El Secreto, the hotel’s bar, and La Boca, the restaurant, expanding her creative footprint across the public spaces. The reception areas featured leopard print rugs originally designed by Catherine Martin for Miami and adapted for New York, while Juan Gatti’s living room rug designs added further artistic depth.

Through it all, Designer Rugs remained the constant – with Lia overseeing production, travelling to meet specialist artisans, ensuring quality control at every stage and safeguarding the integrity of the designs.

Despite three time zones and a constantly evolving scope, the project was delivered seamlessly to a very happy client – a testament not only to creative alignment, but to technical mastery.

Theatre Underfoot

Faena hotels are not restrained spaces. They are theatrical, art-driven and immersive – filled with sculpture, painting and layered decorative detail. It is an environment where the rugs cannot just ground a room. They must participate in the drama.

From the saturated reds of the guest rooms to the intricate corridor patterns and statement public spaces, the rugs are not background elements, they are architectural devices. They soften, define, direct and elevate.

“The rugs just looked amazing,” says Lia. “To see the size and scope of them was incredible. Silvana’s designs were perfect.”

Managed from Sydney, realised by specialist artisans and installed in New York, the project stands as a powerful example of Designer Rugs’ global capability – combining artistry with technical precision, and vision with delivery.

In a building where nothing was straight and nothing was simple, Designer Rugs ensured that everything, quite literally, fell into place.