Article source: Pedevilla Architects

Situated near mill creek, on approximately 2828 feet above sea level, the single-family home presents itself with the elegance and serenity of a small mansion. In an apparently self-confident manner the white monolith rises from the site, whilst the building design corresponds to the insistence of the client for a small but prestigious residence. The volumetric and monolithic basic principle was emphasised by the exclusive usage of the white exterior rendering, of which the general raw materials are a compound of local sands, chalk and white-cement. Main focus lies therefore on the exterior’s elementary colour, nuances and slight divergences were solely achieved by aggregates to the plaster. In detail the facades surface was moulded rather roughly, a fine characteristic which was achieved by out-sluicing with the aid of wet sponges. Sensitisation is in the eye of the beholder. Since only by the presence of light and shadow, which is performing its everyday play on the coarse-grained surfaces, the building can utterly unfold its exemplary visual dynamic. The rising silhouette of the roof gives a slight impression of the upward striving space sequence on the inside. Square shaped window openings in different sizes are referring every now and then to significant spots in the surrounding alpine landscape. The vertical facade descends sheer homogenous into the deep and slightly slanting embrasures of the window openings or even into the rooftop. All windowsills and the canopy, which were conducted in exposed concrete, but also the handcrafted roof tiles, were made from the same compound as the plaster and provide its direct context.

Image Courtesy © Gustav Willeit

• Architects: Pedevilla Architects
• Project: House at Mill Creek
• Location: Campo Tures (BZ), Italy
• Photography: Gustav Willeit.
• Software used: Nemetschek, Rhino

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