From factory to family home If you're a fan of contemporary furniture and lighting, or keen on skiing or motorcycling, you could well be living with a Marc Sadler design. His name may not be as familiar as that of another French designer, Philippe Starck, yet Sadler, an award-winning industrial designer, who now lives in Milan, has worked for dozens of leading brands including Cassina, Boffi, Flos, Magis, Foscarini and Nike. Sadler's passion for technology and material experimentation has, over his 44-year career, produced such groundbreaking designs as the first thermoplastic ski-boot in the 1970s and a motorcyclist's back-protector in 1998 that features in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Sadler's fascination with industrial design is reflected in the home he shares with his wife, Paola, and children, Ava, 15, and Teo, eight. The ivy-covered home is hidden away on an industrial estate in Milan's Zona Tortona, a former manufacturing area south-west of the city centre. The Sadlers were one of the first families to live residentially among the abandoned warehouses and factories, although the streets around via Tortona are now some of the city's trendiest addresses. "We lived in a former biscuit factory in Venice for several years before moving to Milan 10 years ago," Sadler says. We bought a piece of land with an abandoned foundry that we decided to turn into our home. The area wasn't fashionable then, and our neighbours were squatters. At first, we kept asking ourselves: what have we done? Walking into the open-plan space of the 19th-century building, you are immediately struck by its sheer volume. Floor-to-ceiling windows open on to a private garden from the huge living area in which zones for sitting, eating and cooking flow freely across pale oak floorboards. An open staircase leads to bedrooms and bathrooms on an upper floor. Exposed brick walls are painted white and, like the metal-framed windows, celebrate the building's legacy while softening the look. "We didn't want a designery place," Sadler says. We wanted to keep it simple, with as much light as possible, while retaining an industrial look with two of the original 100-year-old iron structural posts. I love industrial pieces from the past. The intelligence of their design attracts me greatly. You'd expect an industrial designer to engage with a property's fixtures and Sadler doesn't disappoint. All the site-specific pieces - custom-made bookcases, a curving leather sofa, the fireplace stove and kitchen table - were designed by him. Meanwhile his production pieces, such as the arching Twiggy floor lamp for Foscarini, sit easily within this relaxed space alongside classic designs such as Knoll's Tulip chairs, Pallucco's Fortuny light and Vitra's Panton and Eames LCW chairs. The house is very much the industrial glue at the heart of the Sadlers" lives. "We don't like big parties," Sadler says. We like staying here and being quiet and calm. The volume and space is a real luxury, yet it's a very easy house to run. It's very quiet, especially at weekends, with only the birds to disturb us. But we're not far from the city centre and my studio is just 20 metres away. Several families have followed the Sadlers" example by taking up residence on the industrial estate, so Ava and Teo now have plenty of company. With hot design brands such as Moooi and Dedon opening showrooms in the area, Sadler feels "the city is creeping towards us." And, as Zona Tortona becomes increasingly fashionable, it can only be a matter of time before another disused factory beckons. For more pictures see: From factory to family home: in pictures