Studioata – The house among the trees – A house where natural materials are the real protagonists

PROJECT: Studioata – The house among the trees – A house where natural materials are the real protagonists

LOCATION: Turin, Piedmont - Italy

YEAR: 2012

ARCHITECT / FIRM: Studioata - Associazione Professionale Architetti

BUYER: Private

SURFACE: 310 sqm

PRICE: € 0,00

DESCRIPTION:
The design phase is marked by the use of categories less or more practised, such as urban acupuncture, recovery, reuse, sustainability and innovation, working on an existing construction with the purpose of generating new opportunities. We have conceived a private residence located in the space occupied by an abandoned factory, to create a new oasis in the least obvious place: a courtyard. We believe that the injections of localised stimuli, in this case a single-family residence, can generate reactions leading to an improvement of the entire organism, the city. In so doing, the overall targets are achieved through specific small-scale operations. The house among the trees has been a testing ground on a micro-scale of the city we dream about: a city as an experimental scheme; an unfinished process with respect to the current static image. Our Smart City is a place in which an entire urban urban landscape can be created from a variety of small-scale quality interventions in such a way as to provide a response to the numerous interstitial spaces and disused buildings existing in our cities, today. In line with the concept of acupuncture, which requires that a thin needle is pushed through the skin into specific points on the body to rebalance energy and regenerate tissues, the House among the Trees is an action taken at local level capable of producing a global change.

DESCRIPTION:
The project is aimed at restructuring a low building formerly used as a workshop and converting it to residential use. Located in an inner courtyard in the district of San Salvario in Turin, the building is compressed and squeezed among other buildings of different heights and types. The scope of the intervention, combined with the nature of the property, encouraged us to reflect on the modalities for living in a villa inserted in an urban fabric, and evaluate those visual and spatial relations that may arise between a private space and the environmental context.

DESCRIPTION:
The owners expressed the wish to live in a space strongly connected with the outdoor space, bright and in contact with the green outside.

- SURFACE present NO VARIATION,

TOTAL CONSERVATION / CONTINUITY: The overall dimensions are equal to the pre-existing surface.

- VOLUME present NO VARIATION,

TOTAL CONSERVATION / CONTINUITY: The overall dimensions are equal to the pre-existing volume.

DESCRIPTION:
The project intends to reshape the existing volumes through demolish-rebuild operations. The demolition of the elements inconsistent with the original building, the transformation of a new wing in the north side and the construction of a blind wall on the boundary line of the property define two empty spaces: the courtyard and the patio, around which the living space is configured.

DESCRIPTION:
Before the change of use, the building was a workplace used for handicrafts production. The scope for this intervention is to restructure the low building and its courtyard. The building looks like an independent building inserted in the urban fabric.

DESCRIPTION:
The project intends to reshape the existing volumes through demolish-rebuild operations. The demolition of the elements inconsistent with the original building, the transformation of a new wing in the north side and the construction of a blind wall on the boundary line of the property define two empty spaces: the courtyard and the patio, around which the living space is configured. The flat floor of the building and the new wing has been transformed into a roof garden and a terrane to emphatisize the outdoor space. The new skylights inserted in the roof ensure maximum light yield even in adverse seasonal conditions and offer a pleasant view of the sky.

DESCRIPTION:
In winter, the architecture of the site is revealed by the naked trees: the Liège bluestone covering the courtyard and the north façade, the grey plaster of the main façade and the black aluminum of the fixtures. Liège bluestone staves of different shapes are used for cladding the entire surface of the courtyard and the north façade thus camouflaging the access to the technical rooms. The flat roof of the building and the new wing has been transformed into a roof garden and a terrace to emphasize the outdoor space. The green elements become a real building material. Ten trees and about 160 sqm of lawn embellish the courtyard, the patio and the roof. The living space develops around the green and below it. The purpose of the green is to ensure a perceptive comfort, as an endless source of visual and thermal comfort. Trees mean shadows in summer and light in winter through the bare branches.

DESCRIPTION:
Located in an inner courtyard in the district of San Salvario in Turin, the building is compressed and “squeezed” among other buildings of different heights and types. The scope of the intervention, combined with the nature of the property, encouraged us to reflect on the modalities for living in a villa inserted in an urban fabric, and evaluate those visual and spatial relations that may arise between a private space and the environmental context.