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c.da S. Stefano 99/B - Monopoli
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NGARCHITETTI
PROFILE
NGARCHITETTI
PORTFOLIO
NZEB HOUSE
Project description:
"The beauty of being an architect is that you can walk in your dreams," said architect Harold Wagoner around the middle of the last century. The NZEB house project in the S. Stefano area of Monopoli was born precisely from the desire of the designers, husband and wife, to create a place full of meaning, light, pure surfaces and volumes that would enclose, like a treasure chest, their life and that of their children.
The architects' particular ecological sensitivity generated a highly innovative project which, while appearing contemporary in design, incorporates many techniques and precautions taken from tradition to ensure an envelope that is efficient in terms of heating and cooling consumption.
In this perspective, the differences in the building's elevations should be seen, with small openings to the north and large ones to the south, but always screened by special projections or pergolas designed precisely to allow the entry of sunlight in winter (when the sun is lower on the horizon) but not in summer.
The roof of the first floor is a single slope, inclined to the south to host, with the best possible exposure, 6.6 kW of photovoltaic panels and two solar thermal panels for the production of domestic hot water. Heating, cooling, and hot water production are entrusted to a single electric heat pump, which works for three months a year for free thanks to solar energy.
The house is energetically independent from gas; air conditioning, domestic hot water, and cooking (the kitchen hob is induction) use electricity largely derived from the sun, thus clean energy.
The design of the entire house develops around a small courtyard with access from the basement, which is oriented in the direction of the summer breezes, thus generating a movement of fresh air that, drawn from the basement, cools the upper floors in summer, which have windows overlooking this space and to the north.
All the external surfaces are light in shades of white, including the terraces and the tiles of the sloping roof, in order to reduce summer heating due to solar radiation.
The infill walls were made with eco insulating Poroton-type bricks with vertical holes, 30 cm thick, and 10 cm of Isover Clima external insulation by Saint Gobain, made of 80% recycled glass fiber and low VOC emission. As an external wall finish, a breathable siloxane coating was used, Webercote Siloxcover R by Weber. The windows are triple-glazed PVC by Oknoplast, installed on Edilcass supports consisting of monoblock thermal insulating jambs and boxes made of insulating material.
The bio-architecture solutions used, combined with the materials and systems just listed, have ensured that the single-family house built in c.da S. Stefano in Monopoli is among the few NZEB houses built in Italy; NZEB stands for Nearly Zero Energy Building, a term used to define a building whose energy consumption is almost zero. NZEBs, therefore, are buildings with very high performance that minimize consumption for their operation and harmful impact on the environment.
The house obtained an excellent score in the ITACA Puglia environmental sustainability assessment tool, which allowed it to obtain from the Municipality of Monopoli a discount on the construction contribution and a volumetric bonus of 10%.
This project was selected by Saint-Gobain Italia among the best Italian projects that participate, every two years, in the Italian selections of the International Trophy Saint-Gobain Gyproc, a prestigious competition in which the most important projects carried out worldwide with innovative Saint-Gobain Gyproc solutions take part.
The NZEB house designed and built in Monopoli is now online on the architectural reference site www.sg-gallerylive.it.
PERIOD FARMHOUSE
There are properties steeped in history, charm, and mystery—you can tell at first glance, and this farmhouse, whose story we helped rewrite, is one of them.
The farmhouse, which underwent renovation in 2016, has an important history behind it. Once an ancient watchtower in medieval times, it dominates the plain of centuries-old olive trees, gazing directly at the city of Monopoli and its sea, almost as far as the Greek coasts—the second "homeland" for the client, a true devotee of Greece and its myths.
Before our intervention, the farmhouse featured a series of additions, extensions, and works that distorted and obscured its charm.
The renovation project aimed above all to enhance the intrinsic features of the historic property, exposing the beautiful stone with which the oldest part was built, both for the interior vaults and the facades. The latter received a water-repellent treatment to prevent the risk of rainwater infiltration and were embellished with both battlements (previously existing only on one facade) and bright blue shutters, once again highlighting the close connection between the client and Greece.
Throughout the property, gas was abandoned, so both the underfloor radiant heating and cooling system with heat pump and the kitchen stoves, all induction, rely on electricity.
A sort of hierarchy was respected in the interior layout, placing the sleeping area in the oldest stone part and the living area in the extension, also because the latter allowed for much larger and airier spaces.
The outdoor spaces were intentionally left rustic, with gravel forming the draining pavement of the courtyards, a kitchen equipped with a reconstructed stone table under a gazebo covered with reeds, and a south-facing solarium area set within a planter/citrus grove.
The existing pool was repaved in the solarium area and enhanced with fixed benches covered in Vietri tiles.
The final image achieved is deliberately bucolic, almost an exaltation of rural life—simple and tranquil—which encapsulates the "rebirth" of the farmhouse, which proudly stands on the first hill beyond Greece.
RENOVATION OF ELEGANT APARTMENT
This renovation was designed and carried out in 2016 and concerns an apartment located on the first floor of a historic noble building in the very center of the city.
As always, the design was based on the needs and desires of the clients, namely a family consisting of two professionals and two children, where each would enjoy their own autonomy and privacy. The large surface area of the property allowed for the creation of 4 bedrooms, each with its own walk-in closet and private bathroom. At the entrance to the apartment, a custom-designed built-in wardrobe was created, serving both as a cloakroom and as a container for the electronic equipment supporting the home automation system.
From here you enter the elegant living room, the true heart of the home both symbolically and functionally, which features an impressive frescoed vault; this, together with all the other stone vaults present in the various rooms, has been skillfully highlighted by continuous perimeter LED lights, inserted inside plaster cornices made to design and set at the impost.
Passing through the dining area with its corner exposure, and therefore very bright, you reach the kitchen, which has a minimal and clean style, fitting elegantly into the classic surroundings, while at the same time enhancing the functionality of the work area, entirely created on a central island, where the snack counter with stools is also installed.
Near the conversation area of the living room there is the study, the guest bathroom, the laundry room, and access to the large terrace. The latter has been equipped for outdoor living thanks to a canopy, a technical room incorporated into its structure, and slatted-effect brise soleil, which, thanks also to climbing greenery, ensure privacy. These structures too were made by local craftsmen to specific designs and are made of wood with a white water-repellent treatment.
Throughout the sleeping area, false ceilings have been designed and built, which reinterpret the ancient coffered ceiling in a contemporary way and blend well with the other rooms of the house; these elements also have the practical function of housing the lighting and containing heat loss.
The flooring throughout the house is prefinished parquet with floating installation, while the winter/summer air conditioning system is underfloor heating (with low thermal inertia) with an electric heat pump; these measures allow, in addition to great savings in terms of consumption and energy independence from gas (even the kitchen hobs are induction, therefore electric), the physiological diffusion of heat, effectively heating even rooms with vaults over 5 meters high.
Ultimately, the feeling you get when entering homes like this is one of absolute well-being: visual well-being thanks to the neutral color palettes used and skillfully combined, thermal/hygrometric well-being thanks to the adopted plant solutions, tactile/perceptual well-being for the beauty and instinctive serenity that only a wooden floor can provide.
Apartment renovation for office use
We would like to present a renovation project from 2010 that is particularly dear to us for the warm atmosphere we managed to create; we will tell you about it in a few lines:
Every renovation project we undertake is always based on two cornerstones, namely:
1- The needs of the client - because we firmly believe that it is not enough to create a "beautiful" work to achieve good architecture, but it is more important to fully satisfy the needs of those who will live there, to guarantee them a "better" life.
2- The peculiarities of the property/site - to bring out as much as possible the distinctive features of the asset and thus obtain a unique work of its kind, not replicable, perhaps transforming weaknesses into strengths and focusing on solutions, not problems.
This renovation was carried out to create, within an apartment previously used as a residence, a private office.
Despite the constraints imposed by the load-bearing masonry structure, we managed to give great adaptability to the use of spaces and rooms, creating a small waiting room at the entrance with a guest bathroom, two well-lit and ventilated study rooms, a meeting room with double glass doors (also accessible directly from the waiting room), a wall kitchen, and staff bathroom.
Great emphasis was given to the lowered sail vaults, illuminated by custom-designed wall lights with indirect light that is reflected and harmoniously diffused throughout all the rooms.
The floor is prefinished parquet, laid over the existing stoneware flooring to optimize costs.
The final result thus convinced the client, who was looking for a property that would put his clients at ease in an intimate and pleasant environment, with an almost muffled and suspended atmosphere.
CONTACT US
Social
Address
Share your dreams with us, we will help you make them come true!
c.da S. Stefano 99/B - Monopoli
70043
Italy
©