Enrico Sassi Architetto

Description

The Grotto della Roccia is a small historic building, out of use for almost a century, set into a cliff overlooking Lake Lugano. Despite its poor condition, it was decided to conserve the structure by maintaining as much of its original appearance as possible but enlarging the external terrace and the interior by connecting the two formerly separate upper floors with a new staircase. Structural consolidation work was carried out: in the basement, new walls and a new reinforced concrete slab were cast inside the original masonry, while on the upper floors the existing slab was replaced. The back wall of the original building was removed to gain space for the construction of the exposed concrete staircase. The new concrete volume of the stairs furthermore consolidated the original building by connecting it entirely to the rock behind. In the basement, a bathroom was introduced, separated from the corridor by a 3.5-centimetre-thick curved concrete wall, and on the upper floor the outer door was changed into a south-facing window and the existing roof was replaced. Everything else was left in its existing state or restored; for example, the original pictorial decorations were restored to the façade. A new terrace was added to the existing one, and the surface of both was paved with re-used stones. The original parapets have been maintained and modified to comply with the law, while new ones made of rough oxidised iron were added on both the exterior and interior.