restorations, renovations, eco-architecture
The restoration is finally completed and the owners last summer started to enjoy their italian retreat. Plenty of light, modern interior, but also a strong presence of the original stone building – an old, abandoned farmhouse which has now a new life.
One of the recurrent issue when restoring an old farmhouse is where to locate the internal stairs and what material to use. These houses had in fact the two storeys completely separate, the ground floor as stables for animals and the upper floor for the people, with no internal connection but only an external – usually beautiful – staircase.
So, when renovating the ground floor we need to insert new stairs. In order to save space and achieve lightness, I like to insert slender metal stairs, often in cor-ten (rusty metal) a material that integrate itself beautifully with the old, existing materials, such as stone, brick, timber of traditional umbrian farmhouses. Some of the pictures show a staircase being mounted and other example of a completed job. A renovation in Umbria by architect Marco Carlini