FINALIST T YOUNG CLAUDIO DE ALBERTIS AWARD
Mario Coppola
Tree House
BENEVENTO, ITALY 2017
Photographs: Mario Coppola
Tree House (2017) is the energy efficiency–focused refurbishing of an 18th century building on three floors, subsequently subdivided into three residential units.
The project recomposes and reorganises the environments in a B&B characterised by the coexistence of the ancient, renovated facades and the uniform, dynamic indoor environment, defined by a topological ‘skin’ made of walls, plasterboard and wood. The surface – made using a hybrid process which resorts both to design and digital manufacturing (parts made of wood or CNC polyurethane cut foam) and traditional manufacturing – envelops and interconnects common spaces, hosts 62 plants of
21 different species, encloses the lighting, heating and irrigation systems and equips the environments, becoming containers and seats. A central ‘well’, around which the staircase develops, connects all the spaces, bringing light and vegetation, while on the ground floor there is a large flowerbed hosting a biodiversity niche.