The design idea is to take advantage of the best orientation in terms of the solar path and at the same time, as specified in the competition program, to obtain a good view of the Montserrat panorama.
In fact, to better exploit the slope of the land, avoiding the creation of too many and excessive earth movements and numerous retaining walls with high heights, it was decided to create 2 platforms on which to develop our building in elevation.
The design idea is to take advantage of the best orientation in terms of the solar path and at the same time, as specified in the competition program, to obtain a good view of the Montserrat panorama.
As can be seen from the diagram, the shape of the house derives from these needs and from the morphology of the land.
In fact, to better exploit the slope of the land, avoiding the creation of too many and excessive earth movements and numerous retaining walls with high heights, it was decided to create 2 platforms on which to develop our building in elevation.
Outdoor spaces
In organizing the outdoor spaces, the slope of the land was taken into account, and they too, like the building, develop in steps.
House: surface and description of the rooms
The total built area is 169.40 square meters and the usable area is 152.26 square meters.
The building falls within the area delimited by the distances provided by the boundaries of 4 meters, and 6 meters from the main road.
On the first level, which is approximately at the level of the road, is the entrance to the house, surrounded by a large terrace from which you can enjoy a pleasant panoramic view.
On level 2 where the kitchen, pantry and dining room are located, overlooking the double volume of the living room with a large window from which you can enjoy the view of Montserrat.
On level 3 there is the living room, a bathroom and a multi-use room. The living room is a double volume that overlooks Montserrat and a part of the window faces south for the best exposure to sunlight. A corridor connects the living room to the laundry room and to the main bedroom.
On level 4 there is a bathroom and 2 bedrooms for children.
At the base of a good bioclimatic project an optimal orientation is needed, for this reason it was decided to design large glass surfaces facing south that allow greater solar radiation in winter; at the same time, sunscreen panels were placed to protect the building from the summer sun.
Double glazing with gas in the cavity is envisaged, and a series of adjustable Venetian blinds are also provided. The insulation of the opaque walls is that provided for the panels of the HDS construction system. These opaque walls are positioned in the areas north of the building.
To take advantage of passive cooling in the summer, a forced ventilation system is provided that exploits the chimney effect produced by the stairwell, through openings located at the top of the aforementioned compartment, which will instead be closed in the winter.
For passive cooling, the double volume of the living room is also useful.
The facades have an external finish in smooth white concrete.
The pillars and beams, also made of concrete, are red. The opaque part of the frames is blue. The transparent glass of the entrance canopy alternates with white, yellow and red colored glass.
The sunshades are made of light green aluminum.
For the floors of the house it was chosen to use wooden parquet, while the stairs are of white concrete.
On the outside, the floors have light tones, as well as the materials used for the swimming pool. The pool edge floor is a wooden desk.
The concrete retaining walls, in the visible part above ground, are covered in stone.
Structure
As required by the competition, we used the HDS construction system in prefabricated modules.
The foundations made on the 2 ground platforms obtained are of the stalls type with a thickness of approximately 40cm. The choice is linked to the need to give greater stability and possibly respond to the request for a future extension, which according to our hypothesis will be built on top of the current project. The entrance structure located at the top of the building is made of steel, as it is expected to be dismantled in the event of a future elevation.
