bbdb House

Project Description

Two designers have decided to set up their own house – combined with a workshop area where they can develop their own projects – in a portion of a historical rural house in the hills of Bassano del Grappa (Vicenza).
The house is based on a floor plate 6.5x5m and develops on four main levels plus 1 mezzanine. The verticality and the limited floor plate led us to conceive the house as a hollow volume and to work inside it in order to maximize the space.
A vertical block has been plugged in; it develops around a linear staircase that connects each floor. The block has a variable section and changes according to the floor’s program and the overall needs. Its expansions and contractions generate different spaces both inside the volume and on each floor.
The program was developed according to the different floor plates, in order to guarantee privacy, and yet communication, within the various functions.

The main entrance is at level 0 from the common courtyard. On level minus one and two there are two secondary accesses from the common staircase.
The space devoted to the main activities is on the lower floor, with a big kitchen-dining room and the workshop, both opening onto a private courtyard enclosed by the old walls.

 

 

 

The outdoor space features a small vegetable garden and a deck with a pool. The mezzanine looks onto the dining room, it’s a study; the multifunctional desk-seating bar faces the double height space.
Level zero is the largest free floor plate; here the volume has its maximum contraction and allows maximum use of the space: a living room looking onto both the common courtyard and the private one.
Level one is a flexible space, the change of sets created by the volume makes it a lounge or an enclosed guest bedroom, the services are part of the inner space of the volume.
The most private space is on the top floor. According to the first brief, the couple wanted a private master bedroom separated from the rest of the program that would include a master bath, a closet and a study. An en plein air bathroom characterizes the private suite; the bath roof opens revealing the sky, similar to a patio. The room looks onto the landscape around Bassano.

The volume develops a continuous change of scenarios; the result is a sequence of spaces on different levels, of diverse size and quality, complying both with the client’s particular requests and the features of the ancient house.

Project Details:

Client: Private
Status: Concept Design Development
Location: Bassano del Grappa, Italy
Program: Total Area 190 m2
Architect: MAR office
Team: Renato Juarez Corso, Paola Mongiu