Login
Registered users
The heart of the project since the early stages is the view over Lake Maggiore, the Mottarone chain and the Val d'Ossola. Therefore, the house takes the form of a podium developed towards the panorama. The volume is made up of two parts: a stereometric base partially recessed into the ground, characterized only by the cuts of the openings and windows, intended for the sleeping area, where the master bedrooms face towards the panorama. A second lighter volume, corresponding to the living area, rests on the first one in a set back position and it is characterized by large windows and covered overhangs.
The connection of the project with the panorama and the surroundings is the compositional intention around which everything else is organized. The swimming pool and the first half of the belvedere allow a direct relationship with the landscape; moving back towards the volume of the living room, the roof, with its five-meter overhang, provides them with a frame and a measure. The elevated position allows a wider and better view towards the panorama from the living area and guarantees a good privacy since it remains less visible from the road and the surrounding buildings.
The building is characterized by high energy performance due to the thickness of the insulation layer. Despite the complex articulation of the volumes, every thermal bridge has been eliminated or corrected; the insulation of the solid foundation was designed in such a way as to guarantee an adequate support base for the cladding slabs.
Home automation and HVAC, advanced plant engineering systems, allow to verify the heat loads through the control of vertical awnings and external venetian blinds and through the regulation of temperature and humidity.
The house lies on a sloping ground overlooking the Lake Maggiore and the Alps. The building features a regular shape in plan, and it is composed of two parts. The first one is a solid stone-cladded basement nestled in the ground, sharply carved by the window openings, and it hosts the bedrooms, services and technical rooms. A second light volume leans on the first one featuring large windows and wide overhangs, and it hosts a big and bright living area. A shift in plan between the building levels follows the shape of the ground, reducing the visual impact of the construction. The building features a small set of materials: the stone cladding of the basement, light-tones plasters, steel profiles and extra-clear glass.
Architecture is always the result of many forces: the Client's wishes, regulatory possibilities, our commitment to restore a quality building to the landscape. The program was detailed and demanding: large living room, viewpoint, 5 bedrooms, swimming pool. The choice of how to locate the house was rather forced because, although the land was quite large, the building area was actually a relatively small portion.
Our idea of architecture is not commited to a stylistic approach. We move from the desire of simplicity, light, heat, closeness to nature: a few, beautiful things.
We think that the space where we live and work should have a strong relation with the environment: freedom of movement, long perspectives, fluidity between inside and outside. We look at the building as something that can bring us intense sensations: an extension of our body, a second skin, a healthy place where you can find yourself.
Our language is based on all of those natural materials that can bring simplicity, functionality, warmth and beauty in our architecture.
Wood architecture, of which wooden houses are the most precious expression, is living now a new life that launches it from the past to a more sustainable, fairer and more Beautiful world.
We design for living.
