The Milan vertical loft designed by the firm Westway Architects from the outside has maintained its appearance of a typical house for railway workers, of those built between 1920 and 1924, it is inside that the real metamorphosis took place.
The building has been the subject of a radical restructuring intervention that has transformed from a structural point of view that the distribution of the yard in two years.
The original structure was only maintained the wall wrap with its openings while everything else, foundations, roof, floors, inner coat, systems and internal distribution, it has been built from scratch. The total volume remained unchanged, while the floor area has increased 60 square meters with the new positioning of the floors, stairs and to the recovery of the attic.
From public housing in town villa with private garden, in a village years' 20 in Città Studi in Milan. As a residence for a large family as a residence for a single, redesigned on its specific needs using a sophisticated system of home automation and energy certification according to the standards CENED for Class B.
"Their vertical dwelling offered us the chance to achieve one of our dreams of architects: one of the construction ladder systems impossible Escher. And the customer has left astray by this dream! We emptied the inside so that the space could expand horizontally and vertically and created a core, independent from the structural point of view and detached from the existing historical context, which runs on five floors each served by two staircases each other independent, positioned along the longitudinal load-bearing walls " explains Luca Aureggi. The stairs to a single ramp and small width (80 cm) allow connection from the basement to the fourth floor (fitness area, dining-kitchen area, living room, bedroom, study) does not continuously but alternately. It is a zig-zag pattern that involves the crossing of the single transverse plane, free of dividing elements (open space). "The house is designed as a vertical distance loft mandatory to get lost and find yourself becomes a game. And the sense of loss that goes with it amplifies the perception of space. "LA
All the materials used combine to create a fluid spatiality that expands up to the terrace and garden. The relationship with the outside is favored by these green projections that contextualize the building within the convivial reality and "peasant" around him, definitely not typical for a big city. It ''s like being inside a hortus conclusus of Palermo atmosphere, home of the owner city.
From the front door you find yourself catapulted into the long perspective of the dining-kitchen area overlooking garden. From here begins the vertical ascent through the different scales, tablets between the longitudinal load-bearing walls and the structure of the central core.
The small size of the ramps are balanced by the width of the landing zone, a part of the plan through which you must pass to enter the next flight of stairs. And so it goes up to the study area obtained in the former attic. Nothing gets in the run-up or the descent to the fitness area. The few furnishings, mostly vintage, are of moderate height, and there are no doors and cabinets. Floors and stairs form a single structural entity and material thanks to the same coating of wooden slats. But are the many details of the project, the choice of materials and ad hoc quality, research continues to dilate the space 3D that make big this house only 200 square meters.
vertical loft Westway Achitects, external
Westway Achitects vertical loft, view of the dining-kitchen area
View of the kitchen area
Westway Achitects vertical loft, living area
vertical loft Westway Achitects
Development of the articulated system of stairs
vertical loft Westway Achitects, vintage furniture
oft vertical Westway Achitects, scale to a single flight
vertical loft Westway Achitects, the scales system inspired by Escher's impossible constructions
Westway Achitects vertical loft, living area
Westway Achitects vertical loft, attic transformed in the studio
vertical loft Westway Achitects, a part of the attic recovered
PROJECT SHEET
architectural design and construction supervision: Westway Architects, Rome-Milan arch. Luca Aureggi, arch. Maurizio Condoluci, arch. Stefano Pavia
project name: Villa area city studies Milan
realization: 2013
photos: andrés otero / LUZphoto
indoor area: 168 m²
external area: 60 m²
