Luca Zanaroli Architects

The project of renovation concerned a part of a historic building built in 17th century located in Patù main square, a small town in the south of Salento. The structure was in advanced state of decay: there were also moist spots because of infiltration of water, but the beauty of patina was still recognizable and recoverable.

The aim of the project was to obtain a holiday home and, connected to it, a second independent house for guests. For this reason the main entrance has remained the main one; conversely, the old stable doorway has become the guests’ entry. The large existing rooms house main activities, while utility rooms has been placed in new structures, reusing most recent little volumes. The rooms height – more than 5 meters – has made possible to create a mezzanine for bedrooms.

The old floor in “cementine” has been restored and preserved, such as the typical barrel vaults with lunettes, just cleaned and whitened to be more luminous. Where the floors weren’t restorable, a lime and cement mortar floor with the same color of local stones has been realized. In the old stable, the “chianche” have been disassembled, numbered, cleaned and repositioned. The drinking trough and manger have been reused as kitchen sink and kitchen counter. Also in bathrooms, old “pile” have been used with a new function. In the end, while the fixtures have been rebuilt according to the original design, the external kitchen in the garden is immediately discernible as new intervention, because of its materials and colors.