three blocks

Three Blocks is LCA Architetti's design for a social housing scheme in Casorate Primo, in the province of Pavia, Italy, developed for a 2012 competition: three small timber residential buildings set in a shared park on the edge of the village, facing the countryside.

Instead of one large building, out of scale with the surrounding houses, the project spreads the homes over three compact blocks and unites them through shared spaces. The park has no fences: it is one garden for all residents, with vegetable plots, play areas and a place to hang laundry. At each entrance, a sheltered porch holds benches, bicycle storage, a gardening workshop and a laundry room. The roofs are shared too: a reading and study room, a safe play terrace for children and a barbecue and sun terrace.

The scheme has 32 to 48 homes of various sizes, all accessible. Each building is organised around a small vertical courtyard with stairs, lift and a light well that aids natural ventilation. Floors staggered by half a level make the common areas livelier and raise the lowest flats above the garden. A new square, "City & Countryside", with bike sharing and a water feature recalling the irrigation canals, links the scheme to the village by a cycle path.

Construction in CLT panels with dry finishes halves building time. Wood-fibre insulation ensures comfort in summer and winter; timber windows, sliding louvres, a solar-assisted heat pump, underfloor heating and heat-recovery ventilation complete sustainable, affordable, quality social housing.