The project presented here is the result of the restoration of a single-family residential building in the residential area of the city center of Cuneo. The property is one of the villas called "dei Ferrovieri", which starting from 1908 through the construction and social security campaign of the State Railways, began to populate Italy and the areas adjacent to the historic centers, then later incorporated. The building in question dates back to 1921, it is a property preserved and bound by the Superintendency of Architectural Heritage which protected its facades and external appearance.

Therefore, except for the external maintenance and some small details, a pure interior design intervention is to be considered. The first choice we wanted to stick to right from the start was to maintain the roof structure. It was an essential condition for us. We also wanted to keep the spirit of the time internally, preserving the authentic wooden beams, whole river cut logs. Their appearance is an essential part of the design spaces, and their artisan conformation would not have been able to be replicated with newly made beams.

The contemporary aspect is given by the very dark color that makes the environment personal and generates an alteration of the usual perception of the ceiling. We were also interested in the fact that the appearance of the house was not completely finished. For two reasons, the first again to maintain the historical aspect of the house, the second because we believe that the details not totally completed and the overlapping of eras transfer an authentic, true and therefore also more hospitable character. There are portions of the existing wall, which remain exposed, portions with even the original wallpaper from the 1920s, portions of the wall with period bricks only painted with white grout.

The staircase is an element in micro-perforated sheet metal, it is an object that defies gravity, which works on the transparency and physical properties of the materials that compose it. It stands up in shape, has no support except lateral and is very solid. Parallel to the structural aspects there are those of furniture and set-up, which in our way of designing blend into one with the rest of the building. The kitchen, like the bathrooms, are objects designed (by us), and the birch of which they are built is also the material used in other portions of the house.

Typology Renovation // Location Cuneo, Italy // Timetable 2021 // Client Private // Surface 355 sqm // State Completed // Project Team Alberto Lessan, Jacopo Bracco, Eudes Margaria, Davide Minervini, Alp Arda , Giulia Barbero , Alberto Cout, Irene Nequinio // Structural Engineering Eretika // Thermal Consultan Zeb Studio // Construction Garnerone Giuliano Impresa // Photos Beppe Giardino