Residential units in the hills of Fabriano

The building stands on a hill looking down over the old centre of Fabriano. It is on a rectangular plot running east-west.
Four independently-accessed premises have been created and the project aim is to confer a sense of unity despite the separate ownership of these.
The ground floor is clad in brown travertine and forms a plinth which the white-rendered upper storeys perch on and overhang. The different treatment of these surfaces both highlights the differing volumes and emphasizes the horizontal lines of the building.
Care has been taken with the proportions of these volumes, at times by cutting them short, or else gouging balconies into them. The façade composition is a play of aperture alignments and misalignments. On the side with a view of Fabriano and encircling mountains the broad groundfloor windows are offset by jutting terraces on the floor above. The side facing the road has smaller windows.
A pitched roof was required by planning regulations, but it has been given a novel twist by cutting into it on the terrace side and letting it run unbroken on the other. The smooth surface of the flat anthracite-grey roof tiles perfectly matches the inset solar panels.
The bearing structure is of reinforced concrete pillars and girders with an infill of thermal brick blocks. The insulating property of these is enhanced by use of insulating render on the outer side, thus avoiding thermal bridges; underfloor heating, in turn, cuts energy consumption, as well as creating wellbeing. The terrace and balcony parapets are of steel profile and laminated glass. The apartment outer doors are of tubular steel, stretched sheet iron, marine plywood and glass.
The main apartment of the four rises on three floors: a groundfloor living room and kitchen/dining area; bedrooms on the first floor, two of them with balconies; a second floor attic with a large panoramic window and two terraces. The inside staircase is lined in a very light-coloured (and hence bright) pearly coreno stone, while the choice fell on basalt for the fireplace and chimney breast.
The other apartments are on two floors while an underground floor contains garages and cellars.