A house which means to be a shelter, a boat, a wooden box in a glass box, a hut. A core of cross laminated timber hidden under a white smooth skin. The spiral staircase is a sculpture, the feminine which breaks and riconnects the simple grid of the system. The roof is a blanket laid down on an invisible wire, an origami valley fold.
The project in its relationship between technique, function and form has the objective of determining new standards in building, redefining pre-existing and primitive shapes (archetypes) in a contemporary key.
A simple initial gesture breaks down the building rules: the ridge beam is placed diagonally in relation to the rectangular plan. This choice led to the definition of a structure that does not come close to the canons of wooden buildings.
Edge and ridge beams in laminated wood develop supporting the roof, while a light white sheet protects the hut and allows the living area to develop in double height, recalling a primordial sense in building. The rotation of the ridge towards the corners allows interesting consequences, characterizing the shape and giving answers to the requests of the client: the elevation of the house rises to the south-west to find the best relationship with the environmental context and is lowered into the sleeping area, which by definition needs more protection.
As a result, the distribution system is simple: a protected sleeping area to the north and a living area open to the south-facing garden. The rooms are arranged according to the orientation of the lot: the kitchen, facing east, is bathed by the morning light, while in the south and west the sunset light, filtered by the countryside, illuminates the living area. Everything happens in a continuum of spaces connected to the attic by a prefabricated spiral staircase, which makes the connection between the two living spaces smoother and flowing.
The combined action of technique and form ensures that the house is able to warm up in winter with the fireplace alone and cool down in summer thanks to the low phase shift between inside and outside, without the need for the heat pump.
Photovoltaic, solar thermal, thermal storage, heat pump, heating fireplace, water recovery tank, controlled mechanical ventilation: a combination of sustainable elements that reduces to a few percentage points the energy debt that the house accumulates towards the external environment.
Material Used :
1. structure: X-LAM / CLT (cross laminated timber)
2. glass facade: Uniform – glass facade - Unitherm
3. doors and windows: Uniform – windows – EasyFlat
4. spiral staircase: Rizzi scale - spiral staircase
5. fireplace: MCZ – heating fireplace – Forma 95 Collection
