Alter Studio Architetti Associati shared with us their design, which won second place, for the Tower House Competition for Treviso, Italy, which challenged architects to refurbish a twenty story landmark in the area. The proposal transforms the existing tower into 3 attached structures, each of which is designed with its own energy strategy. Photovoltaic panels on the roof and south façade provide 60 + 15 kw of power, which combined with bioclimatic devices brings the CO2 emissions down to zero. More images and architects’ description after the break.
Tower House is a twenty story Housing complex built in the 60ies in Treviso. The structure and the façades, all in concrete, are actually in very bad condition as it is frequent for these kinds of buildings in Italy. For this reason, it is losing the role of “landmark” in the historical landscape of the town.
Beside its aesthetical situation, this residence performs very negatively in terms of energy consumption. A private developer organized an ideas competition to completely re-design the exterior in an ecological key which is very unusual in Italy. The project generates 3 attached towers from one: each one differently designed and each with its own energetic strategy on the base of diverse orientation and type of landscape.
A vertical solar chimney takes the entire south façade, a vertical green wall responds to a park on north side, and a plaster ventilated screen dialogues with the built context. A vertical photovoltaic plant and a solar roof give the house a power of 60+15kwp. The active solar system planted together with the bioclimatic devices brings down to zero Co2 emissions. These sustainable strategies gives to the building a new appearance to became a renewed “landmark” in the Treviso context. This project wants to be an example and a stimulus to implement eco-strategies in numerous situations like this on Italian territory.
