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Architects: Durisch + Nolli Architetti
- Year: 2009
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Photographs:Tonatiuh Ambrosetti, Gian Paolo Minelli
Text description provided by the architects. Loft B is a replacement building for a caretaker’s apartment, constructed in 1988 above a furniture warehouse in the industrial zone of Riva San Vitale. The industrial building, dating back to 1930, is characterised by a clear structure with a regular column grid and bricked vaults.
The loft is conceived as a superstructure that utilises the existing vertical route of access to the industrial building. In terms of material, the new building assumes the characteristics typical of the industrial zone. Analogue to the skylights, glazing and greenhouses in the surrounding area, the vertical building shell comprises completely of glass.
The exterior facades consist completely of generously sized modules made up of two profiled glass bowls that encase the innovative new glass and an optimum diffusion of light in the building interior. The translucent façade is punctuated by precisely-aligned, large sliding windows, which provide ambience.
The interiors given an identity through defining living modules, kitchen/stairs/wc, sleeping area/bathroom and library/fireplace are completely spatial modules. In this way, the façade surrounds all four sides of the loft without interruption and thus creates a unique, pleasant and diffuse light in the interior that is reminiscent of traditional Japanese residential building.
