silk atelier

The project extends a brick house built in the 1980s. The client, owner of a textile company, wanted a small studio/atelier where he could work in his free time and receive friends and customers. The existing home is a small villa with its own garden, part of a private residential complex in the province of Como; its architecture is simple but refined. The house is L-shaped, and its shorter west wing has an open-plan volume used as a porch and barbecue area. The new building is added on the east side, closing the house around a courtyard. The proposed construction is a prefabricated timber frame insulated with cellulose fibre. The extension is finished with closely spaced wooden slats that wrap seamlessly over the walls and the two asymmetrical roof pitches. The architects wanted to use a material – larch – that could both dialogue with the brick and recall the old looms on which silk was woven and decorated, the client's own trade. Timber prefabrication and natural materials and insulation make this an extremely comfortable, low-energy building. Integration with the garden and park, bioclimatic energy-saving strategies and renewable raw materials make this extension a piece of sustainable architecture. The project has currently reached the final design stage.