ENVIRONMENTAL RECOVERY OF AN ABANDONED CALCARENITE QUARRY ON THE ISLAND OF FAVIGNANA FOR THE REALIZATION OF A HYPOGEOUS HOTEL
The project consists in the realization of a hotel facility via the recovery of the largest hypogeous calcarenite quarry on the island of Favignana, abandoned since 1970. The first stage of the recovery began in 2003 and consisted of the securing, restoration and static consolidation of the quarry walls, while later stages focused on technical and architectural issues. The recovery work was completed in 2015. The excavation zone, located twelve meters below ground level, covers a total of nine thousand and five hundred square meters.
The special environmental context required the construction of a low-tech building and the usage of materials appropriate to support a deep connection with the location and climate. The hypogeous hotel project avoids modifying the excavations of the quarry floor and of the large walls of calcarenite rock (genuine monoliths up to twelve meters high and five meters thick) resulting from the extractive activities. The quarry floor space, delimited by the calcarenite walls, establishes the size as well as the planimetric and altimetric development of the hotel complex that consists of various volumes separated from each other by vertical cuts that allow natural light to enter and air to flow, regulating the temperature of interior spaces.
The volume designated for rooms is divided into two parts that are separated by a slit along the building’s height, allowing natural light to penetrate the interior of all three floors: a solution lent by skylights which served to illuminate and regulate temperature inside the quarry. The hotel facility features solar panels and photovoltaic installations camouflaged on its roof. The calcarenite block, in its pure form, is the only material used in the construction of the buildings which allows for a reinterpretation of the theory of the "incomplete", as it occurs in the local constructive tradition.
Recovery and reuse of rain water and waste water.
The rain water from the roof is collected inside a special cistern and put back into circulation in the plumbing system to supply toilet flushing tanks. By contrast, the rainwater that falls into the bottom of the quarry (- 12.00 mt.) is filtered into a system of 14 wells (diameter and depth of 2.50 mt.) connected by propylene pipes that lead into a large tank where the water can subsequently be used for irrigating the garden. Finally, waste water is processed by a purification plant that allows for a portion of the purified waters to be used for irrigation while the remainder is disposed of through sub-irrigation.
