Architecture and Design: Casa Ceschi / Traverso Vighy

ON THE 12TH CENTURY WALLS
The Ceschi House leans against the 12th century walls of the city of Vicenza. The
architects have “listened” to the existing building carefully: restoring the original
walls using traditional techniques, while developing the interior as an independent
project which allowed the redistribution of the inner spaces in a functional manner.

RESTORATION AND SUSTAINABILITY
The vision of the restoration as a quest for sustainability has been pursued in the
broadest sense of the term, including technical, economic and energy issues. The aim
was to create a lightweight structure, that has a character of reversibility, built
with high-tech systems, which allowed a period of prefabrication, and streamlining of
the implementation and installation phases.

A NEW LARCH SKELETON
In the restoration of the Ceschi house, a new structure was designed to fit inside the
existing empty walls: a skeleton of laminated larch wood which extends the full height
of the building, defining its distribution and establishing a collaborative
relationship with the container characterized by an outstanding anti-seismic
performance.
The new structure makes no alterations to the exterior load-bearing walls, but replaces
the structural function of existing internal partitions with a lightweight frame
system. All the elements which make up the structure were prefabricated, enabling a
high level of precision in survey, design and execution.

NATURAL MATERIALS AND LOW ENERGY
For the thermal insulation of the building, which has been classified as class A, a
system of insulating panels were set inside the existing masonry walls, consisting of
multilayer insulation laid on a wood and compressed earth panels.
These compressed earth panels have high thermal mass and regulate the humidity of the
internal environment, making a marked improvement in the heating and cooling
performance of the building, and the level of comfort and well-being of its
inhabitants.

DAYLIGHT AND TRANSPARENCY
In the interior glass is used for its diffusive character both on structural solutions
and for interior design: the natural light which flows from the outside is filtered by
both horizontal and vertical glass surfaces, creating a sense of continuity between the
spaces.