Cover Villa Gaeta on Lake Como, featured in Casino Royale (2006), designed by architects Gino and Adolfo Coppedè in 1921. The villa's medieval-inspired turret and bifora windows exemplify Venetian rationalism with Gothic Revival and Art Nouveau elements, making it one of the most influential examples of James Bond architecture
Villa Gaeta on Lake Como, featured in Casino Royale (2006), designed by architects Gino and Adolfo Coppedè in 1921. The villa's medieval-inspired turret and bifora windows exemplify Venetian rationalism with Gothic Revival and Art Nouveau elements, making it one of the most influential examples of James Bond architecture
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From Ken Adam’s geometric vaults to Villa Gaeta on Lake Como, these James Bond locations established visual languages that luxury homes still reference today
All 25 James Bond films are streaming on Netflix in select markets, and audiences keep returning to the same question: Where was that filmed? The franchise has always understood that location matters as much as plot. A volcanic lair or Lake Como villa tells you something about villainy, wealth, and aspiration. Seven locations proved particularly influential, not just as backdrops but as architectural statements that shaped residential design over the following decades.
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Ken Adam’s Fort Knox vault: The cathedral of gold
Above Ken Adam’s Fort Knox exterior from Goldfinger (1964). The 40-foot-high vault interior was built entirely at Pinewood Studios using geometric forms and substantial materials rather than typical wood-and-paper backdrops
Ken Adam’s Fort Knox exterior from Goldfinger (1964). The 40-foot-high vault interior was built entirely at Pinewood Studios using geometric forms and substantial materials rather than typical wood-and-paper backdrops
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Production designer Ken Adam built Goldfinger’s Fort Knox vault entirely at Pinewood Studios in 1964. After visiting the Bank of England’s gold vaults and finding them unimpressive, he designed a 40-foot-high structure using geometric forms: triangles, circles, and rectangles. The set cost significantly more than typical film backdrops because Adam insisted on substantial materials rather than wood and paper.
Critics believed he’d filmed inside the actual Fort Knox. The vault’s angular geometry and circular skylights became reference points for 1960s modernist interiors. Steven Spielberg later called Adam’s Dr Strangelove War Room “the greatest movie set ever designed”, but the Goldfinger vault reached wider audiences.
By the late 1960s, Bond producers were commissioning scripts based on Adam’s set designs rather than the reverse. His architectural approach, using sharp angles and dramatic negative space, appeared in residential projects throughout the decade. The vault demonstrated that geometric minimalism could signify wealth rather than austerity.
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Blofeld’s volcano lair: When Brutalism looked glamorous
Adam's volcano lair interior for You Only Live Twice (1967) measured 148 feet tall and cost $1 million. The set included a working monorail, an operative heliport, and required 700 tons of structural steel
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Adam’s volcano interior for You Only Live Twice (1967) cost $1 million, matching Dr No’s entire budget from five years earlier. The set measured 148 feet tall, visible from three miles away, and required 700 tons of structural steel. It included a working monorail, an operative heliport, and a full-scale rocket launcher. Construction involved 50 plasterers and 60 riggers working 120 feet above ground during winter.
The set established brutalist concrete as viable architecture for wealth and power. Mike Myers parodied it in Austin Powers. Contemporary Asian residential architecture references fortress-like concrete villas, monolithic weekend houses with industrial elements, multi-level walkways, and dramatic staircases. It remains the template for villain headquarters across multiple franchises.
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Villa Gaeta: Lake Como’s real estate boom
Above Aerial view of Villa Gaeta showing the clifftop stairs featured in Casino Royale’s (2006) final scene. The villa now operates as holiday rental apartments.
Aerial view of Villa Gaeta showing the clifftop stairs featured in Casino Royale’s (2006) final scene. The villa now operates as holiday rental apartments.
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Architects Gino and Adolfo Coppedè designed Villa Gaeta in 1921 for the Ambrosoli family. The villa combines Gothic Revival and Art Nouveau elements: a medieval-inspired turret, bifora windows, and a lakefront loggia. The style is Venetian rationalism, geometric with decorative details.
Casino Royale (2006) used the villa’s clifftop stairs for the final scene, in which Bond shoots Mr White and delivers “Bond... James Bond”. The film introduced international audiences to early 20th-century Italian eclectic architecture. Lake Como estate agents reported an increase in enquiries following the film’s release.
Villa Gaeta now operates as a holiday rental. The Coppedè brothers designed extensively across Italy, including Rome’s Quartiere Coppedè. Post-Casino Royale, Italian eclectic architecture from the 1920s appeared in luxury developments from Singapore to Miami, particularly in projects that incorporated medieval elements with Art Nouveau detailing.
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Piz Gloria: The restaurant that financed itself with film
Above Piz Gloria rotating restaurant atop Switzerland’s Schilthorn mountain (2,970 metres). Architect Konrad Wolf’s design features a 12-metre diameter core that rotates once per hour, which the Bond production helped finance the completion in 1969
Piz Gloria rotating restaurant atop Switzerland’s Schilthorn mountain (2,970 metres). Architect Konrad Wolf’s design features a 12-metre diameter core that rotates once per hour, which the Bond production helped finance the completion in 1969
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The Bond production team for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) discovered a partially constructed rotating restaurant atop Switzerland’s Schilthorn mountain (2,970 metres). Architect Konrad Wolf had designed it. The production helped finance the completion in exchange for filming rights. The restaurant, which kept the name Piz Gloria, has operated since 1969.
A 12-metre diameter core rotates the upper floor once per hour. The restaurant seats 400 diners with views of over 200 mountain peaks. The structure uses aluminium-clad wooden panels. Construction at extreme altitude required prefabricated parts due to topographic and climatic conditions.
Above Behind-the-scenes filming at Piz Gloria for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). The Bond production helped finance the completion of architect Konrad Wolf’s rotating restaurant in exchange for filming rights, and has operated continuously since 1969
Behind-the-scenes filming at Piz Gloria for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969). The Bond production helped finance the completion of architect Konrad Wolf’s rotating restaurant in exchange for filming rights, and has operated continuously since 1969
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The Seattle Space Needle predates Piz Gloria, opening in 1962. However, Piz Gloria demonstrated that modernist architecture could function in extreme mountain conditions. Contemporary luxury ski chalets with floor-to-ceiling glass and cantilevered terraces reference similar structural approaches. The restaurant completed a 1990 renovation whilst maintaining its original architectural character.
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Goldeneye: Fleming’s Accidental Manifesto
Above Ian Fleming’s Goldeneye estate in Oracabessa, Jamaica, photographed from the beach. Fleming designed the three-bedroom house himself in 1946 with jalousie shutters instead of windows to capture the Caribbean breeze
Ian Fleming’s Goldeneye estate in Oracabessa, Jamaica, photographed from the beach. Fleming designed the three-bedroom house himself in 1946 with jalousie shutters instead of windows to capture the Caribbean breeze
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Ian Fleming purchased 15 acres in Oracabessa, Jamaica, in 1946 and designed the house himself. The three-bedroom structure had no windows, only wooden jalousie shutters. Fleming sketched the design on a desk blotter. Writer Patrick Leigh Fermor described it as “a model for new houses in the tropics”.
The house used open-air living and cross-ventilation. Trees surrounded it on all sides except the sea. Fleming wrote all 14 Bond novels at a desk in the bedroom, producing 2,000 words each morning before swimming.
After Fleming died in 1964, the property was sold to Bob Marley in 1976, then to Island Records founder Chris Blackwell in 1977. Blackwell expanded the estate to 52 acres. When Goldeneye opened as a resort in 2011, Jamaican architect Ann Hodges designed the additions in accordance with Fleming’s principles of understated tropical architecture. The resort established what became known as “barefoot elegance” in Caribbean luxury hospitality.
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Skyfall Lodge: The Scottish estate that never was
Skyfall Lodge with Bond’s Aston Martin DB5. Art director Dean Clegg designed the set, built from plywood and plaster at Hankley Common in Surrey, to resemble Highland vernacular architecture with weathered stone and moss-covered walls
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Art director Dean Clegg designed Skyfall Lodge for the 2012 film. The set was built from plywood and plaster at Hankley Common in Surrey. It was fabricated to resemble Highland vernacular architecture, with weathered stone, moss-covered walls, and small mullioned windows. Establishing shots were filmed in Glen Coe and Glen Etive, where Fleming’s family owned land.
The set was destroyed using the equivalent of 140 sticks of dynamite. Seventy craftsmen constructed it over several weeks. Estate agents reported increased enquiries for Highland properties after the film’s release. Interior designers documented a shift towards what became known as “heritage maximalism”: dark wood panelling, subdued lighting, and layered interiors.
Above Interior of Skyfall Lodge showing the dark wood panelling and subdued lighting that defined “heritage maximalism”. The set was destroyed using the equivalent of 140 sticks of dynamite
Interior of Skyfall Lodge showing the dark wood panelling and subdued lighting that defined “heritage maximalism”. The set was destroyed using the equivalent of 140 sticks of dynamite
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The Scottish baronial style gained commercial traction between 2012 and 2015, contrasting with the white minimalism that had dominated the previous decade. Luxury interiors from 2013 onwards incorporated heavier materials, dramatic proportions, and references to ancestral estates.
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Safin’s Poison Garden: Brutalism as romantic ruin
The interior meeting room at Safin’s compound combined traditional Japanese elements with stark concrete: five-metre tables, tatami on concrete floors, and low windows overlooking the poison garden
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Production designer Mark Tildesley designed Safin’s compound for No Time to Die (2021), referencing Ken Adam’s brutalist work. Filming took place on Kalsoy Island in the Faroe Islands, near the village of Trøllanes. The industrial complex, submarine pens, concrete bunkers, and missile silos were added digitally in post-production.
The interior meeting room was built as a studio set at Pinewood. It combined Japanese elements with concrete: five-metre tables, tatami on concrete floors, and low windows. Tildesley aimed to demonstrate how brutalist design could incorporate traditional materials and cultural references.
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Jennifer Choo is Regional Managing Editor of Tatler Homes, covering architecture, interior design, and art across Asia. Based in Malaysia, she oversees regional content on luxury residential design and contemporary art collections. Legally trained but choosing to pursue her passion for design, she previously led notable design publications and worked as an interior stylist and art consultant for property developers, design firms, and private clients.
