Podere Navigliano

Siena, Toscana, Italy

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Other Projects by Ciclostile Architettura

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FPA / Francesca Pasquali Archive

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Ca' Inua

Podere Navigliano

Siena, Toscana, Italy

Firm

Ciclostile Architettura

Type

Residential › Private House

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2014

SIZE

5000 sqft - 10,000 sqft

Photos

Fabio Mantovani (14)

Podere Navigliano is an antique Tuscan farmhouse in the heart of Sienese Clays, where nature and history are the undisputed protagonists. This project is the evolution of thought smallness, which characterized all previous projects of our office. In this case, especially the materials, but also the attention to the historical context and the environment, are at the heart of the project; the reinterpretation of traditional elements has allowed a new language to be found, a new aesthetic inseparably linked to the tradition.

Smallness in this context means the ability to find, edit, and innovate materials, construction techniques, and technologies specific to the site. The design effort was aimed at the definition of a project that can interact with the environment and the tradition, but at the same time be able to surprise, showing a new beauty rediscovered in the elements of tradition itself.

The project involves the renovation of a 2,000-square-foot farm spread over three levels: a ground floor that was used as a stable and service areas for agriculture, a first floor that housed two apartments, and a second floor, consisting of two turrets, at the service of the apartments. A new interior arrangement recreated a single dwelling in an attempt to respect the essential characteristics of the traditional type, which is why the ground floor has localized service spaces (tavern, laundry, SPA, garage). In the first floor living area that overlooks the valley to the south and two suites that overlook the most intimate private garden. In the two towers, the most valuable suites are located.

Particular attention was paid to the choice of materials and in particular the floors are the key element of the intervention. The choice of floors and their positioning reflects the intervention philosophy. On the ground floor, intended for local service, resin was selected that adopts the previous clay pavement and is well suited to the new features. The living area on the first floor originally had low-quality brick floors and, following the demolition of all interior floors for structural reasons, it was decided to revive the brick; our research led to choosing a different stock of brick recovery of the same size mixed in a new pattern.

On the first floor and the second floor, in the bedroom, we have tried to reinterpret the tradition of woodworking, proposing a cross and diamond design recreated with the same logic of the brick floor by assembling elements from wooden planks recovered of different essences, thus obtaining a pattern varied and uneven.

The steel is very important in this project; the structural element was brought to the finishing element protagonist of the interior space. The Corten staircase, the double-sided fireplace, and steel hoops testify the intervention on the existing, not trying to hide the scars, but elevating them to a characterizing element.

All the walls are finished with natural lime lying in a traditional way in an irregular manner; to emphasize the beauty of the material, we decided not to paint the walls, but to retain the natural lime color.

All external façades have been treated and restored with the same lime and reproduce the aesthetics of its place except the façade of the main entrance that, for structural reasons, was rebuilt. In this case, we decided to change the system façade by inserting the element of jealousy used to illuminate the stairwell behind.