Casa RG / ES-arch

Curated by ArchDaily

Architects: ES-arch
Year: 2013
Photographs:Marcello Mariana

Casa RG / ES-arch - Windows, Facade, Handrail — © Marcello Mariana

Text description provided by the architects. Our project is a recovery of the attic of a portion of an apartment building.

The apartment building is made up of two blocks and a connecting body. The two blocks look differently even though they were both built in the 60s. Our block used to be inhabited by the families working on the ground floor grocer’s.

The existing block has a complex plan, due to the building within a narrow area. Folds, bevels and narrowings are a consequence of the narrow distances, indeed they were not designed for creative or architectural reasons.

Casa RG / ES-arch - Image 12 of 26 — © Marcello Mariana

While the main building is a separate one and is standing on a flat terrain, the renovated block is just before the climbing Bernasconi street (via Bernasconi).

The building has a compound shape. It broadens up northwards and has a straight side while and westwards it has a series of folds and bevelled edges.

The main point of our project was the restructuring of the pitched roof and its slope.

Our solution was the rotation of the hipped roof (north/south). In order to have windows southwards the hipped roof was rotated so that the whole building gains a proportioned and contained shape. Its layout was furtherly refined thanks to the insertion of a chimney

We first proceeded by redefining and regularising the volume, trying to find a balance despite the original irregural shape. Just a tiny intervention and the result is a new balance in shape and volume.

Casa RG / ES-arch - Countertop, Table, Shelving — © Marcello Mariana

The muddy colours of the wood and of the surrounding context influenced our choice of the materials in order to give the building some compactness. That’s why we chose thin kerlite tiles. The muddy colours and the tile covering strenghten the compactness of the building.