Montebar villa

The house is in a privileged position, at the edge of a slope with vineyards facing the Swiss alps, with sun light during the four seasons.
The 200m2 house comprises an open plan living space, with the kitchen, dining and sitting areas on the south side, three bedrooms, a study room, two bathrooms, as well as laundry room, a technical room, pantry and storage rooms. All spaces are on the same level, except the two double height children bedrooms with loft with bed and tv.
The project was created around the local building code, which imposes each house to have a dark grey pitched roof for a better integration with the environment. Starting from this constraint, the idea developed into an homogeneous solution using the same material for both the roof and façades, in order to provide the building with a monolithic aspect, like a stone in the landscape.
The only exception is the South elevation, facing the valley, which grants a spectacular 180 degree view through a curtain-wall that encloses the living area and folds inside creating a loggia to be used in the warmer months.
The entire building structure was assembled in just a few days, with prefabricated and thermally insulated wood elements, ideal for this type of climate.
The final cladding material uniforming the shell is a ventilated façade with porcelain stoneware tiles and an invisible fastening system. To complete the energy efficiency of the building, the glass façade of the living area has a curtain wall with thermally broken aluminium horizontal profiles and vertical glass fins, and with insulated selective and low-e glass. The rest of the windows have a thermally broken aluminium profile with triple insulated glazing. Heating is under-floor, with cooling provided by natural ventilation.
The same porcelain stoneware material has been applied to the custom designed folding shutters, to match and align with the façade pattern when they are closed.
The six-sided roof is offset toward the mountain and it’s calibrated to have the largest side with the same mountain inclination, for a better integration with the landscape.

JMA