PROJECTS / Terrace house
A holiday house designed to be truly sustainable from construction to operation, while perfectly integrating into the existing landscape.
Imperia
New construction
Architectural design, landscape design, sustainability concept, works supervision, project management
2023
Private
A newly-constructed rural villa located in the countryside of Imperia, Italy.
The building shape follows the existing terraces and merges into the landscape.
Located in an area where severe seismic regulations and cultural heritage limitations take place, this project aims to deliver a contemporary design while addressing these design constraints as well as challenging sustainability goals.
Key sustainability
features
Rainwater is collected from the roof and stored in a rainwater cistern to be used for irrigation.
Native plant species and plant species with minimum irrigation requirements have been selected.
The new construction uses a prefabricated timber structure to minimize its embodied carbon emissions as well as site disturbance during construction operations.
The house uses 100% electricity (of which 50% from PV panels) and a heat pump for hot water and heating/cooling. Its energy performance is the best according to the Italian energy rating system (A4).
100% of excavation materials were reused on-site.
Cross ventilation, movable sun-shading and natural finishing materials are used to provide indoor environmental quality.
In order to minimize excavation works, the building volume was split in three parts following the terrain levels. Little translations of sub-volumes allow for different intimacy levels and views of the outside.
The internal layout is optimized in order to get the most out of the limited floor surface that was allowed to be built. Interconnected volumes with different roof shapes give the feeling of a much larger property.
Essential pieces of furniture with optimized storage space give the interiors a minimalistic touch while delivering a cozy environment.
Movable sun-shading can close completely or open following the position of the sun.
While making the design of the façade dynamic, movable sun-shading allows to regulate the amount of natural daylight entering the living areas and increase the overall indoor environmental quality.
