We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to ancestors, country and community. We pay our respects to their Elders both past and present and to their enduring cultures.
The project stems from the need expressed by the client to create a new personal home that was perfectly tailored, in terms of size, features and environmental sustainability.
It is a small house for a small family of 2-3 people built on the hills of Valpolicella in the municipality of Negrar near Verona next to an existing pool and with a wonderful view of the valley and its vineyards. The house consists of an open-plan living area and kitchen with a large window overlooking the pool, a master bedroom, a single bedroom and a bathroom, as well as a storage room that also serves as an entrance compass on the north side. The layout of the rooms has been designed to maximize winter solar heating and summer ventilation.
The chosen construction technique is characterized by a wooden frame modular structure filled with straw bales. This material was chosen for its characteristics of environmental sustainability combined with the high insulating power with the result of a minimum amount of energy required for heating.
The coatings and foundations are entirely made with natural materials: stone, lime and clay, reducing to zero the use of concrete and minimal use of iron and plastic materials. The double-pitched roof, also isolated with straw bales, is covered by photovoltaic panels on the south-facing side and covered with a layer of vegetation (sedum) on the north-facing side.
It is also a state-of-the-art building regarding energy efficiency, with a 6 KW photovoltaic system facing south connected to an accumulation battery that allows, for most of the year, to isolate the building from the electricity grid. Furthermore, the connection to the gas network has not been performed because thermal comfort will be obtained thanks to the high insulating power of the straw walls combined with an electric heating system with infrared technology.
The goal was to obtain a completely self-sufficient building from an energy point of view while combining the use of natural and eco-sustainable materials.
