Meet the Maker: Luigi and the Art of Tuscan Ironwork

Every piece begins the same way: not with iron, but with a conversation.

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For Wrought Iron Luigi, creating bespoke pieces for our first Prime home in Tuscany, that exchange is central to the process. As Susy explains, the work starts by understanding not only the client, but the home itself. “It’s really important, with Rio London, (August's in house Design Studio) too, to be deeply involved with the client, to understand their needs.”

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For August, that understanding has been especially important. At the Tuscan home, the ironwork is not being introduced as decoration alone, but as a continuation of what already exists: inherited pieces, original architectural shapes, and the natural curves found throughout the home’s arches and openings.

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That approach shaped the collaboration from the beginning. “My father was there folding the iron, and I sent the photos to Francesca, August’s Head of Design,” Susy says. “She’d approve, or say let’s do it differently, and we created the story together, right there, in the first forms.”

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It is this immediacy that makes the process feel so personal. The family does not see a commission as a standalone object, but as something that must belong to the house it is made for. “We need to make sure our piece is part of the house,” Susy explains. “We want the client, when they see it, not only to appreciate the artisanship, but also to see a piece that unites their own taste with the style of the house, everything working together. The piece of iron must be a fundamental element of the house.”

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For the Prime Tuscany home, that philosophy runs through several new commissions. The team is reworking the language of an existing iron chair inherited with the property, creating a new version with a softer, more architectural curve. Inside, this same approach will continue through a bespoke bedroom bench, while outdoors, new iron chairs will sit beneath the existing iron pergola, quietly tying old and new together.

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The result is not a replacement of what was there, but a conversation with it.

Everything that leaves the workshop is made by hand. This is a deliberate choice, not a limitation.

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“Everything is handmade,” Susy says. “My father says he doesn’t want to use the machine.”

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That decision gives the finished pieces their character. Iron is a strong material, but in the hands of the right maker it becomes surprisingly expressive. Curved, heated, hammered and shaped by eye, it can take on a softer, more organic quality, one that feels especially suited to the Tuscan home.

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“Working by hand at the forge, we can give shapes you can’t get with machines,” Susy explains. “So it becomes a piece of art, the only thing made to the scale of the client, like a dress made to measure.”

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No two pieces are ever exactly alike, because no two moments at the forge are identical. “When my father takes a piece of iron, puts it in the fire, and pushes it with a hammer, every stroke he makes is a different shape.”

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That sense of variation is precisely what makes the work feel alive. It is also what makes it so suited to August homes, where pieces are chosen not to feel mass-produced, but to bring individuality, texture and a sense of place.

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In Tuscany, the curved iron forms speak naturally to the architecture of the house: the archways, the softened openings, the rhythm of old stone and shadow. The material brings weight, but the shapes bring movement. Together, they create something that feels architectural, functional and quietly artistic.

For the Prime Tuscany home, the workshop’s role is not limited to one object.

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The collaboration began with an existing iron chair inherited with the property. Rather than discarding it, the design team saw an opportunity to reinterpret its form, preserving the spirit of the original while refining it for the home’s new chapter. The new chair takes inspiration from what was already there, but introduces a more natural curved shape, allowing it to sit comfortably within the architecture of the house.

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This same language continues inside through a bespoke iron bench for the bedroom. Placed within a softer interior setting, the iron introduces structure and contrast, balancing the layered textiles, warm tones and natural materials used throughout the home.

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Outside, the connection becomes even more direct. New iron chairs are being created to sit beneath the existing iron pergola, allowing the outdoor spaces to feel joined up rather than newly assembled. It is a small but important August idea: where possible, we do not separate old from new. We allow them to speak to each other.

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Iron feels especially appropriate here. Long associated with Italian architecture and garden life, from gates and balconies to pergolas and outdoor furniture, it brings a sense of permanence without feeling overly polished. In this home, its organic texture and curved forms echo the design direction more broadly: natural, sculptural and deeply connected to the building itself.

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As Susy puts it, “Every piece of furniture will tell a story, the story of the place, the story of the client, and at the same time the story of our company and what we do. All together.”

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That is what makes the collaboration feel so aligned with Prime. The pieces are not simply commissioned to fill a space. They are made to belong.