In Piedmont, on Lake Mergozzo, an old prefabricated wooden house was renovated by the architect Elena Bertinotti with the idea of integrating it into the natural landscape, transforming it into a balanced and empathic volume that follows the natural slope of the land, along the lines of a ‘cabin in the woods’.
The 91-square-metre house presents a contemporary twist on some of the building elements from the local tradition such as the pitched roof, the strips of larch with a strong expressive materiality and the exposed stone wall of the south façade, made out of material from the building site’s excavation and the demolition of old farmhouses.
The dark PREFA sheet metal, which seamlessly covers the roof and north façade, is interrupted right above the entrance, generating a small covered terrace on the first floor. On the opposite side, the large terrace overlooking the lake is covered on both sides with Ipe Déco slats and protected by an eave that, according to bioclimatic principles, filters or boosts the sun’s rays depending to the season.
The Roefix thermal cladding, made with calcium silicate panels – a natural, transpiring, recyclable material – is one of the elements that contributes to qualifying the house for an A4 energy classification with almost zero impact, together with the heat pump-powered underfloor heating system and the 6 kW photovoltaic system with accumulator. Finally, the interiors see a prevalence of light colours in the Listone Giordano parquet and in the lime plaster, which dialogue with the boiserie made of natural oak slats in different widths and depths.
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