R3 House
The project starts from the idea of merging landscape and construction and is projected towards the integration of the new with the old, through a graphic sign intended to reunite split levels dictated by the particularly steeper soil conformation.
The operation consists in the redevelopment of the second level of an elegant villa of the 80's , situated in a private residential complex, between the sloping terraces of Catania hills, overlooking the sea.
It deals with the graft of a structure added to very low environmental impact, with the aim of enhancing the existing buildings and to equip an old building of the latest and most innovative technologies to reduce energy consumption and promote sustainability.
The works mainly interested the second level's rooms of the existing building, which undergo small rearrangements resulting in internal redistribution of space, depending on the overview exposure of some windows available.
The sleeping area is then cut out from the previous spaces, while the continuation of the breakdown corridor fully glass realized marks, also zenithally, the junction with the living area contained in a new volume consists of first flat and then tilted with south orientation cover, to accommodate photovoltaic panels.
The choice of materials relates to recyclable and natural materials, such as metal, glass, wood, stone: the structure is made of steel profiles connected together and to the single slab in concrete, by bolted plates.
In the south the external casing is made of prefabricated panels, including the insulation and covered with wood outwards and plasterboard inwards; the remaining three sides are closed with double glass plates with inner chamber with argon gas, and minimal thermal break aluminium profiles.
The distinctive positioning of the new body on a portion of land especially shaded and on lava stone terraces, associated with the use of reflective materials on several sides guarantees perfect integration between existing vegetation, minimizing the impact of the new and at the same time ensuring an adequate control of irradiance and irradiation.
In addition, the ability to open almost completely the fixtures allows you to visually enlarge the space and project it outward in a continuous fusion between inside and outside.
Inside, the wooden ceiling and a radiant floor under a cementitious resin layer ensure a constant maintenance of the thermo-hygrometric conditions especially in the winter period, during which it is guaranteed the right space heating due to the presence of a condensing boiler powered by photovoltaic panels placed on the roof.
The careful choice of led lamps also ensures a regular artificial lighting in the later hours of the day.
A flight of stone steps contained by raw iron plates allow access directly from the lower terrace adjacent to the pedestrian entrance to the housing complex.
