From factory to loft: Studio, house and art/performing space in one sustainable existing building
The building was originally a factory, Officine Meccaniche Naretto. Then it was the Joinery Aragon. Now: loft and studio, without consuming additional space in the middle of the traditional industrial city of Turin. And with the use of little energy-consuming plant technologies, to reduce costs and environmental impact, and of natural and breathable coatings, such as the tadelakt. The warm natural light cascading from above, from the skylight and windows tape existing, has been preserved: the skylight crosses like a spine all the main space. And then from the closed space blossomed a courtyard, a room became unexpectedly ‘discovery’ and intimate together. A core of light and air intended to ventilate and illuminate rooms around the ground floor and on the newborn mezzanine; a small central garden, a focus for the social functions of living, from dining to chatting in an outdoor ‘living room’.
In respect of sustainability: the existing wall shell was insulated with a polyurethane foam package – that is, the insulation that insulates better with the same thickness – and slabs of plaster fiber; the windows, completely replaced, have an average transmittance of less than 1.7 W / m2K and ensure superior lighting standards (FLD> 4%); for winter heating and summer air conditioning was installed a floor heating system extended to home and studio, activated in its seasonal configuration by a touch screen panel for home automation, that also allows the control of lighting and thermal scenarios, relative to the electrical loads and motors windows and doors, video entry.
The power system is a radiant electric heat pump with high efficiency, ensuring a favorable conversion of electricity into thermal energy and moreover fed by a 5.76 kWp photovoltaic system, integrated functionally with the roof of the new technology center on the roof terrace, assisting substantially the supply of electricity. The hot water is also produced from renewable energy by three solar panels.
“How transforming a relic in architecture”
The finishing materials consist of: industrial flooring, recycled and obtained from glued wood waste lamellas; ecological wall paint based on natural materials such as egg white and calcium carbonate; coating of vertical and horizontal surfaces of the bathrooms with original Moroccan plaster (born in Marrakech), the ‘tadelakt’, able to guarantee both impermeability and breathability, finished with beeswax and handcrafted according to the tradition of Moroccan saunas in which it is used ‘ab origine’; local stone slabs from Luserna (Piedmont), reused; wooden windows; entrance space pavement made by river cobblestones to create the transition place between exterior and interior; lampshades in shiny paper and fabrics.
The existing wall shell was insulated with a polyurethane foam package – that is, the insulation that insulates better with the same thickness – and slabs of plaster fiber; the windows, completely replaced, have an average transmittance of less than 1.7 W / m2K and ensure superior lighting standards (FLD> 4%); for winter heating and summer air conditioning was installed a floor heating system extended to home and studio, activated in its seasonal configuration by a touch screen panel for home automation, that also allows the control of lighting and thermal scenarios, relative to the electrical loads and motors windows and doors, video entry.
The power system is a radiant electric heat pump with high efficiency, ensuring a favorable conversion of electricity into thermal energy and moreover fed by a 5.76 kWp photovoltaic system, integrated functionally with the roof of the new technology center on the roof terrace, assisting substantially the supply of electricity. The hot water is also produced from renewable energy by three solar panels.