The design re-interprets the rural architecture of the Hybleain mountains, both in terms of massing and materials. The external walls that connect the suites are built in local limestone, using a drystone wall technique, whilst timber pergolas connect the open spaces and provide substantial shading for the summer months. The buildings themselves are constructed in cross-laminated timber and covered in a zinc-titanium roof, which collects rain water used to water the gardens. Internally the suites are finished in natural materials

This project is about the reinvention of a historic stone building in Sicily, which has been transformed into a small but inventive family house with potential to expand in the future.

The original building dates back to the 18^th century. Entirely made out of stone, it appears at once to ‘grow’ out of the ground and be one with it, incorporating within its volume a pre-existing cave and other natural features. This was man literally sculpting and carving a home for himself and his family and protecting themselves with thick walls and small openings from the intense summer heat.

The design of the new project stems instead from the idea of ‘growing within’. New surfaces and volumes delicately but assuredly colonize the historic building protected by its stone carapace and instil new life within it. The two remain distinct but at the same time rely on each other for their continued existence, in a quasi-symbiotic relationship.

The lower level, which contains a kitchen, bathroom, living area and the children’s bedroom, is a mixture of single height and double-height spaces, defined by fare-faced concrete walls and the existing stone walls.

The insertion of a new volume at the upper level – providing a master bedroom and dressing room – has been pulled away from the original walls to create the naturally lit double height spaces below. The hull-like shape of this volume has been conceived to facilitate natural ventilation via stack-effect and therefore eliminating the need for air-conditioning.

Throughout the building, niches, concealed storage areas, movable panels, and custom-made furniture contribute to making this 50sqm house a flexible and adaptable home certainly capable of punching above its weight.

The project adopts passive and active measures to achieve its sustainable goals; from shading to thermal mass; from rainwater harvesting to photovoltaic arrays; from recycled materials to re-used structural elements. All of these come together together to create a building that works incredibly hard, whilst providing the lifestyle spaces desired by the client, including an open plan living area with an indoor garden and an intensive green roof with panoramic views of the sea.

The project is currently in detail design phase.

Surrounded by a mature olive grove, the building is understood as being born of the land, sculpted by sunlight and wind. It is imagined as a series of walled layers that progress from a robust, rugged outer shell to reveal smoother and more delicate internal layers. Rough garden walls that stand at different heights shelter the inhabited areas and create outdoor spaces with increasing degrees of enclosure, while also rationalising the steep gradient of the site. This spatial configuration allows a dual aspect in most rooms with openings that frame different views while also offering protection from the sun and prevailing wind. Overhead, extended roof eaves offer further shelter from the elements. The ‘wall’ therefore forms the main feature of the project and anchors the new building to its site. Largely incorporating natural materials, this simple palette captures the spirit of place to create a home that is at once elegant, functional and enduring.

The client’s brief was for a home that would be easily capable of adapting to the changing needs of its occupiers over the years and act as a receptacle for an extensive art collection Rather than being a hindrance, the inspiration for the project derived from the harshness of the site and above all its exposure to harsh sunshine and powerful winds.

The building responds to the natural phenomena by adapting its shape to harness them, creating shelter, seclusion or expansion depending on orientation. A simple, constant, building section follows the contours of the land and opens up to the views, placing at its central light-filled gallery for the client’s art collection, whilst the hard timber shell opens up to reveal more of the interior corresponding to the main living areas of the building.

The architectural language that derives is that of a deceptively simple building with a subtle palette of natural materials, recalling the robust pragmatism and understated elegance of New Zealand farmhouses, where the complexity is derived instead from the response of a simple built form to the site setting. A house, therefore, sculpted by wind and sun and connected to the natural environment.

This project series is about the reinvention of three historic stone buildings in Sicily. All three are a testimony to a successful building type and the vernacular construction methods, being made out what had been the readily available material for millennia and sharing similar details although they were constructed at very different times and on different sites.

The three buildings also appear at once to literally ‘grow’ out of the ground and be one with it, incorporating within their volume pre-existing caves and other natural features. This was man literally sculpting and carving a shelter for himself, his family and his few possessions and protecting them with thick walls and few openings.

The design of the three projects stems from the idea of ‘growing within’. New surfaces and volumes delicately but assuredly colonize the historic building protected by its stone carapace and instil new life within it. The two remain distinct but at the same time rely on each other for their continued existence, in a quasi-symbiotic relationship.

The main aspiration was to add a bedroom from which the client could ‘wake up and see the sea’, but the completed building is much more than that. Indeed, apart from new bedroom with a view of the bay, the addition also needed to include a car space, utility room, bedroom, kitchenette, ensuite bathroom, walk-in wardrobe and study and all in 50 sqm. By careful arrangement of the stairs and doors, the new addition also has the flexibility to be closed off from the main house and operate as a self-contained unit.

The design of the addition was inspired by the bay and headland form of the coastline. The rocky headlands with steep inaccessible cliffs offer excellent views of the surrounding coastline and for this reason were prized by Maori as Pa (fortified village) sites. The addition’s staunch monolithic appearance, by concealment of doors at the lower level and minimal detail, emphasises the sense of an elevated vantage point which sits in contrast to the existing house with it’s more horizontal emphasis, casual feel and array of architectural features.

The idea of ‘erosion’ did not stop there as it was a case of literally about carving out functional living areas out of the existing configuration and targeting adaptation only to a limited number of areas for cost reasons. These interventions would have to ‘work’ extremely hard and absolve more than one function at a time.

The linchpin of the composition is the new staircase that leads to the mansard space (originally storage space). The staircase is at the same time about connection and separation. It is itself a ruin, starting as stone and then dissolving into closed and open timber treads. It is at once a light-well, a bench, a storage area.

The walls that would appear to bind the staircase fragment and unravel becoming ceiling and floor, leading to and visually connecting the main living spaces on the two floors. Again these surfaces are carved creating openings and articulated volumes that separate the spaces, but never completely.

Light and views are what binds the spaces together.