An excellent example of how Sylva™ by Stora Enso solved multiple competing architectural challenges with stunning results.

Residential building regulations are very demanding in the Mount San Donato area and require a traditional appearance. But the developers were committed to modern Passive House standards, so all orientations, construction systems, and energy performance had to be integral to the project design. Added to the architectural puzzle was how to enable direct views of the stunning views of the Andía mountain range, which affected the positioning of the house on the plot and its heights.

In the end, Madergia applied their 10+ years of mass timber experience to deliver a modern two-storey property ruled by simplicity with a sloping tile roof constructed using a mass timber/ concrete hybrid.

Concrete is used in the base to form the porches and garage. The base is hard and strong, absorbing the land's natural slope with minimal impact. And the visible white building is much lighter because it is framed with Slyva™ by Stora Enso CLT walls and floors which is on average five times lighter than concrete (making it much easier on the landscape but also to transport in remote locations like this).

And if you look closely you will see they've adhered to the regulations yet cleverly redefined the terms of the local area's traditional elements. Notice the eaves are thinner and more abstract than traditional eaves; the gutter is handcrafted to finish off the eaves as an integral part of them, while the roof tile is set back so as not to show its profile on the edge.

Windowsills, railings and other similar elements are reduced to a minimum. The concrete that forms the porches, finished with a wooden boarding texture, dialogues with the chestnut wood fronts that form the façade of the house inside these porches.

The house's perimeter is conceived as a white, abstract wall - largely due to the high degree of insulation of the entire envelope. But on the interior, the wood is left exposed. All the details between wooden elements, or between wood and other materials, are designed with a precise beauty and deliver an overall elegant space that we can all admire.