Client: private
Location: Chiastrone, Langhirano, Parma
Project: 2011-2013
Construction: 2014
Architectural design: Marco Contini
Collaborators: Sara Chiari, Elisa Paletti
Structures: Paolo Bertozzi
Mechanical systems: Massimo Bocchi
Electrical systems: Giampaolo Vecchi
Type of intervention: recovery
Functional characteristics: main residence and service porch with detached guest building
Area: 4.000 sqm
Contractor: Construction company Franco Piazza
Photographs: P.D.P., Paolo Lasagni
These two recovered buildings are located near a 16th century mill along the Parma river in an area of great environmental value. Both buildings date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s.
In consideration of the history and nature of the place, the project aimed, from the beginning, to safeguard the main environmental characteristics, intervening on the buildings in order to make them suitable to be inhabited by a family but preserving the planivolumetric characteristics, the façade and roofing materials and the modularity and linearity of the elevations.
In the external parts in strong relationship with the buildings, we have intervened simply by recovering the existing vegetation and consolidating the stone walls that accompany the canals.
The first building is typologically characterized by the presence of a space – indoor covered path. The project emphasizes the importance of this space, with the large oak-panelled infill panels that divide the interior with the exterior. The inhabited spaces located in the southern part overlook the garden and this path at the same time, allowing a continuous visual relationship between the various parts both on the ground floor and the upper floor.
The second building has maintained its original residential use as well as the main distributive and formal features: the openings in the wall fronts, the exposed stone, the terracotta roofing.
Particular attention has been paid to the restoration techniques of the masonry, using lime mortar. The structure of the floors and the roof was made of oak wood. The porch infill panels were made with X-Lam and covered with oak planks.
The furniture was designed by Marco Contini
The abundant presence of water has allowed the use of a geothermal plant with the objective of a concrete environmental sustainability and energy efficiency.
