Mottled grey tiles envelop this angular house in the Swiss Alps, which was made by Milanese company JM Architecture to search “like a stone in the landscape” (+ slideshow).
The jagged type and colouring of Montebar Villa had been devised by Jacopo Mascheroni to help the home settle into its mountainous terrain in Medeglia.
The house sits on the edge of a slope above a valley and is surrounded by cattle-grazing pastures and vineyards. Its 6-sided roof is angled to match the incline of the mountains and a glass curtain wall on its south side gives views above the valley.
“The undertaking was created close to the nearby building code, which imposes each and every home to have a dark grey pitched roof for a far better integration with the setting,” explained Mascheroni.
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“Starting up from this constraint, the concept developed into an homogeneous answer making use of the very same materials for each the roof and facades, in purchase to provide the developing with a monolithic facet, like a stone in the landscape.”
The home is made from prefabricated timber aspects picked to aid insulate it from the region’s cold winters. Over 20 centimetres of insulation inside of the walls and roof is coupled with underfloor heating support to further fend off the climate.
The whole framework is clad in rows of grey porcelain stoneware tiles to generate a “pure and basic type”. The edges of the tiles are minimize at an angle to enable them to slot together and develop a flush surface.
A strip of light close to the base of the residence differentiates is from the patch of grey gravel it sits on.
EXE Studio also combined tile and shingle cladding for a mountain dwelling in western Serbia, which references both the region’s traditional and contemporary variations.
“Every face of the shell has been made tile by tile, with a dynamic pattern composed with 3 diverse formats, and a lot of tiles have mitred edges,” said Mascheroni.
Folding shutters are covered in the exact same materials, which align with the facade pattern when closed to create a uniform look.
Rooms within the irregular hexagonal plan are largely arranged above one particular floor, but two children’s bedrooms have mezzanines in the roof room.
Like the gently angled walls, the roof is pitched to minimise its influence on the terrain, with its tallest level towards the back of the internet site and its lowest in direction of the slope.
“The six-sided roof is offset towards the mountain and it truly is calibrated to have the greatest side with the very same mountain inclination, for a much better integration with the landscape,” said Mascheroni.
A loggia set into the glazed living and big triple-glazed windows help to ventilate the property during warmer months.
Photography is by Jacopo Mascheroni.
Project credits:
Architecture: JM Architects
Principal: Jacopo Mascheroni
Undertaking manager: Diego Magrì
Structural engineer: Messi & Associati
MEP engineer: Alternativa Energetica
Prefabricated construction: Rihter
Cladding: Geos Italy
Curtain wall and windows: Casma Involucri Edilizi
Waterproofing: Acqua Risolta
Lighting: Oty Light
Plumbing: Acqua Layout
Site strategy – click for larger image 
Ground floor program – click for greater image 
Very first floor program – click for greater picture 
