ISM | 2 Houses 1 Patio
On the back of the existing house, an extension and a warehouse, both built in the 1950s, filled almost half of the plot. These were demolished and their volume was shifted in the new extension and in the renovation of the attic in the existing semi-detached house. Instead of designing the extension in continuity with the existing facade, the new building was pulled back from the street frontage. This movement allowed to use the existing stairwell both for the new and the old building, and to have bigger windows towards south in the extension building, safeguarding however the privacy of the owner.
Moreover these windows contribute to maximise the passive solar heating: this solution allows the reduction of energy consumption, together with the geothermal plant for the heating and the hot water system, and with the photovoltaic system placed on the southern pitched roof of the existing building.
In order to preserve the existing semi-detached house, leaving the original perception of the building, and to integrate the new extension, the materials were used in a diversified but complementary manner.
While the facades of the existing building are mainly plastered with some ornamental elements made out of brick, the extension volume has mainly masonry walls with some plastered elements.
Two wide loggias divide the garden from the patio that is designed as a large sky-room and as a source of fresh air during the summer. The existing warehouse has been partially demolished, reused as a garage and workshop and provided with a new facade made out of larch laths.
