A concrete basin constructed within this modest apartment in Venice is designed to fend off flooding from the city’s waterways.
Italian architecture studio Act_Romegialli was asked to restore the ground floor of a residence on Fondamenta di San Giobbe – a canal-side street in the Cannaregio district of the city.
The architects carried out water-proofing perform to shield the property – which was initially used as a workshop prior to its conversion into housing – against flooding caused by rising sea ranges.
This concerned casting a reinforced concrete container within the confines of the forty-square-metre room, with sides that rise over the prior entrance level.
Inner partitions and furnishings had been then integrated into this construction to develop a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and lounge.
“Hydraulic engineering and technical infrastructure have been employed as the commencing point to solve the total reconfiguration of the inner architectural layout answer,” explained the architects.
Connected story: Green Box by Act_Romegialli
“Contemplating the typical degree of the tides surveyed among 1870 to 2000, it was uncovered that a level of +160 centimetres would be sufficient to safeguard the area from centennial maximum higher tides.”
This measurement is integrated in the name of the project, which is called St. Giobbe +160.
The waterproof tank is surrounded by 160-centimetre-tall sides, with the floor of the residing space set at an intermediate degree of 122 centimetres – just beneath the lip of the concrete container – and the bedroom, bathroom and kitchen at the 160-centimetre safety level.
“The consistent concrete wall perimeter degree of +160 centimetres provides the internal room a sense of safety and intimacy,” explained the studio.
A short flight of methods lead from street degree up to the lip of the container and then down into the living area.
White-painted textured wooden panelling covers the upper components of the walls above the likely waterline.
The wooden panelling also sections off a bedroom towards the back of the space, which attributes an integrated glass-fronted bookcase.
A concrete stage prospects up to a narrow galley kitchen and bathroom located on larger ground and decorated with monochrome tiles.
Sliding doors positioned at both finish of the narrow kitchen can be employed to separate the bathroom and the dining area from the kitchen.
Photography is by Marcello Mariana.
Task credits:
Design group: Act_Romegialli, Gianmatteo Romegialli, Angela Maria Romegialli, Erika Gaggia
Collaborators: Luigi Guzzardi and Roberto Pescarollo
Program 
Part Dezeen
