During the life of a centuries old building, we are just a moment, a quick pass: our work, our signs have been added to those of our predecessors. Our purpose is to deliver a snapshot, a true picture of what we have done. New and old materials are kept exposed: concrete, iron, bricks, stone, wooden beams and planks. Everything is combined and composed by necessity, nothing more, nothing less.

During the life of a centuries old building, we are just a moment, a quick pass: our work, our signs have been added to those of our predecessors. Our purpose is to deliver a snapshot, a true picture of what we have done. New and old materials are kept exposed: concrete, iron, bricks, stone, wooden beams and planks. Everything is combined and composed by necessity, nothing more, nothing less.

Manufacturing experience, passion for architecture and attention to detail are the key themes in this collaboration between two generations of professionals. The use of heterogeneous design tools was at the base of this fruitful experience: render, technical drawings, sketches,.. but the most peculiar axpect has been a large use of freehand design for every detail, not just in preliminary phase but in the executive one as well. 

Casa BRSL is a two-centuries-old building with a complex history behind: it was at first transformed into a laboratory for clogs' production, later into a shop and today this restoration brings the building back to its first function: a family house.

The building is composed of two former detached blocks: due to the extremely variable heights between floor levels, the blocks re-stitching has been a very delicate phase. The new steel staircase that connects the two blocks becomes the project cornerstone as well as the fulcrum of the domestic life.

During restoration the main structure was laid bare, interventions and alterations on brick walls and wooden ceilings appear as “based on needs overlapping”: some steps have come back to light, old brick-stone works were revealed as well as a majestic chestnut timber beam that bears the main building base.

Large windows look towards the private courtyard and their details have been studied to have a perfect alignment between wall and glass: this solution allows the constructive boundaries to almost disappear in a visual and emotional permeability: the feeling, getting close to the windows, is like to be outdoors, as “you can stand in the rain or observe the rush of the storm without getting wet.”