Conversion and Expansion of a Rural House in Moncalvo

The rural house is located right outside the town centre of Moncalvo, in the district of Asti. Here the landscape of the countryside is characterized by the presence of vineyards and hazelnut groves. The intervention is arranged to obtain the complete renovation of the rural house and its property in order to transform it into a country estate. Working with the existing typology, the project transforms the original layout, readapting the spaces to modern living needs. Regarding the older part of the rural building, the design works with the opposition of two different characters: in the northern elevation, the original composition, made by the use of different materials, is preserved despite the introduction of some new small openings; the southern elevation, entirely plastered, is radically transformed with the introduction of a rhythm of windows framed in relief. The landscaping of the garden is achieved by the repartition of the slope among different levels connected by a new system of paths: the upper level acts as the house’s courtyard creating an expansion of the ground floor space; the middle level is built on a new stone pavement platform, from which the swimming pool is carved into.