The building houses a residence which, at the request of the client, should have presented itself as a “container” to protect the family with respect to the surroundings of poor construction and landscape quality that surrounded it. The project therefore concentrated on the design of a horizontal volume, apparently wedged into the hillside from which it protrudes, and a vertical volume, which supports the weight of the entire construction.
The surface, intentionally “hard” and massive, is covered by a metal curtain in the horizontal volume and by simple plaster in the vertical volume, highlighting the interweaving of two distinct “souls” which symbolically recall the two different identities of the clients. This “embrace” takes place in the centre of a small garden, terraced and protected from view from the public road, towards which the architecture opens up and allows the family to enjoy the outdoor.
The building is in some respects an experiment, since for the first time in Romagna the construction site of a building undergoing “Active House” certification has opened, an international protocol for the assessment of buildings built on the principles of Passive House and NZEB. This protocol rewards not only good planning that brings energy consumption to zero balance and the consequent overproduction of energy, but above all the real benefits perceived by the inhabitant. In fact, not only the performance is appreciated, which in any case plays a fundamental role, but also aspects related to the comfort of the occupants such as natural lighting, thermal comfort, air quality and acoustics.
