New house in the historical center of Coldrerio

Coldrerio

The building is a single-family house on four levels, is located within the historical area of the municipality of Coldrerio and overlooks a courtyard. Its architectural expression responds to the regulations applied to buildings in this area, in particular the roof, which must be pitched; the shape and type of the windows that must be of vertical proportions and must darkened by shutters; the coating materials, which must be mineral.

The building has the same volume as the previous building which was in poor condition and was demolished; it is built in contiguity with another building, with which it shares the border wall. The building occupies the entire width of the lot which is quite small (4.50 x 9.53 m) and occupies a total area of 43 m2.

The ground floor overlooking the courtyard is blind while it has a terrace on the first floor, which enjoys optimal sunshine. Entering the courtyard, the corner of the house presents itself as pivotal element of this void space.

The pitch of the roof that covers the space of the terrace is not supported by a corner pillar and appears to be suspended. The absence of the corner pillar underlines and enhances the excavated volume of the terrace. The pitch of the roof is supported by a beam which hangs from a large structural beam, the head of which is divided into two smaller sections that give rise to the characteristic twin rhythm of the secondary beams.

To optimize the available surface, the perimetral walls are made with the system called “cocoon”, developed by the Knauf company.

This construction system makes it possible to create insulated load-bearing walls that are only 26 centimeters thick. The facades made with the Knauf Cocoon system are load-bearing for the wooden roof.

For the finish of the facade, a layer of premixed plaster was applied which was treated in a special way to give it an appearance as similar as possible to the historical plaster, in which the aggregates of different grain size and color are visible.

The ground floor entrance opens onto the open kitchen and living room. In the center are the stairs leading to the rooms. The first floor houses a double bedroom facing north, a bathroom and an atrium with wardrobe, a balcony overlooking the common courtyard. The second floor (attic) houses a bedroom, a bathroom and an atrium with wardrobe.