DBC House

The design brief presented a challenge to convert an agricultural barn into a residential single-family house. The existing structure did not have any architectural merit. The constraints of planning rules and regulations allowed the partial reconstruction of the existing abutments and also imposed the requirement to maintain the level of the existing roof gutters. The building site is at the foothills of mount Legnone on the gentle slope reaching the shores of Lake Como. Starting from the careful consideration of building regulations, the design was based on a series of excavations within the profile of the existing ground. This created a lower ground floor previously not available for habitation. This sequence of patios and courtyards allows light into the "zona notte" (bedrooms) lower ground level. The patios and courtyards create protection from prevailing winds, direct the vision to the sky and the surrounding mountains and obscures from sight the surrounding built environment. A large cantilevered terrace on the upper ground floor to the south gives a unobstructed view of Lake Como.The external trowel render finish echoes the rural buildings in the area. Reinforced concrete, cast timber formwork in Oriented Strand Board (OSB) replace the original natural slope (patios and courtyards)