This luxury development is located in an area of Lake Como that has always been known as the romantic shore.
The area is home to many historic villas and important buildings as for example villa Oleandra of George Clooney, with parks and gardens of great environmental value, both individually and as a whole.
What makes the development truly unique is its location. It is position in immediate contact with the waters of the lake, with which it is physically joined.
The development consists of a series of organically positioned structures, and the design of the buildings is suggestive of a certain freedom of composition:
A parking area at the level of the Regina highway and a three floor underground car park, masked on the lake facing side by a green wall;
A central stairway that is isolated and set back from the lakefront; partially excavated from the rock and masked on the lake side by a green wall;
Two organically designed blocks consisting of three floors plus the attic, their principle axis is perpendicular to the lakefront, so as to minimise their impact on the landscape:
A “mat building” on the ground floor, with five apartments as well as the custodian’s apartment;
A private boathouse is located beneath this structure.
At lake level, directly underneath the apartments on the ground floor, and up to same height as adjacent boathouses, there is access from the water. As is typical of the architecture of Lake Como, the boathouse is located underneath the building. It has been designed in a way that residents’ boats can be dry stored, using a series of elevators.
The entrance, located to the south, is protected by a wall from the northerly winds.
There will be ten spaces for boats, and the boathouse will be linked to the above residential floors and car park via a central lift. An external floating jetty of an appropriate size will allow for temporary docking. The lake facing side will be characteristically clad in local stone and have grilled covered openings to allow for the ventilation and illumination of the boathouse.
The ground floor, located above the roof of the boathouse, consists of five apartments, as well as the custodian’s one, some of which will be duplexes with internal stairs.
Above the linear ground floor emerge two opposing blocks, rotated perpendicularly to the axis of the lakefront, to ensure that everyone has a view of the lake.
Each block consists of three levels above the ground, with one or two apartments on each floor, and an attic floor that is set back in respect to the underlying structure.
The residential complex can also be accessed from above, directly from the ‘Regina’ highway. A road level parking area provides a few parking spaces for guests, covered by simple shelters.
The private parking areas consist of three underground levels. Two car lifts allow access to the three levels that have been partially excavated from the rock. Footbridges - metal walkways, which fit nicely into the landscape - linked to the central staircase connect the various residential units to the car park.
An appropriate green wall will mask the block on the side of the lake.
The proposed development has taken factors of sustainability into consideration, both in terms of the materials used and future energy savings, through the use of adequate and current materials and technology. Mindful of issues of energy use, it is foreseen that the buildings will guaranty a better thermal performance than required by law, enough to ensure an A class energy performance, which takes into account the following aspects: a) the efficiency of the building envelope, b) the performance of the materials and c) the efficiency of the services.
The building’s services have been designed to obtain the maximum possible efficiency from today’s technology and make use of available alternative energy sources. In fact, the central heating system and production of hot water will use highly efficient heat pumps that utilise water from the lake. In this way the use of combustibles for heating and cooling is excluded. Cooking appliances present in the individual properties will also run on electricity.
The vertical structures and the flat covering slabs of the boathouse will be made from visible reinforced concrete.
The ceiling beneath the properties on the ground floor will have an insulating coating of an appropriate thickness, in accordance with the current regulations on energy saving, which will be levelled and painted in colours chosen by the project manager. Requirements for soundproofing will be met using appropriate insulating and acoustic panels.
The external surface of the lake facing walls will be clad in stone from Moltrasio. It will have grilled openings to allow for the ventilation and illumination of the boathouse.
The walls of the storage areas will be made from visible concrete blocks, painted with washable colours chosen by the project manager. They will have painted hollow core metal doors complete with locks, safety handles, ventilation and all accessories.
The service rooms, corridors and stairwell will be sealed by metal REI 120 fireproof doors, in accordance with the regulations of the Fire Brigade.
The floor of the service rooms, storage areas and corridors will be in concrete, with a polished quartz finish and treated with protective epoxy paints.
A (courtesy) mooring jetty for short-term use will allow guests to embark and disembark directly from outside the boathouse.
There will be a boat elevator for the storage of boats.
Terraces on the lake belonging to ground floor properties will be accessible via an iron staircase with wooden steps, they will also have mooring poles. These terraces will allow for private temporary mooring for the properties located on the ground floor and can also be used for sunbathing.
The boathouse will have stainless steel grilled motorized shutters that will allow for the entrance to be securely closed.
The heating system will use condenser heat pumps that make use of water from the lake for the production of hot water in the winter and cold water in the summer. It will be housed in the service room at the level of the boathouse.
The production of centralised domestic hot water through a tank system will use a boiler in the service room.
The water and sanitary system will originate from the metered communal water supply.
Domestic hot water and the water used for central heating will be treated with a water softener.
Hot and cold domestic water and hot/cold water for central heating/cooling will be brought to each individual apartment via a series of pipes that connect to the heating system. Water use will be measured using meters placed in each residential unit.
Underfloor central heating and cooling will be installed in all rooms and in the bathrooms where there will be stainless steel towel heaters of appropriate dimensions as integration of the heating system. The underfloor cooling system will be integrated by ducted fan coil units installed in the false ceilings, having also the function to dehumidify the air
The flexible and innovative electrical wiring system, designed to provide a high level of comfort, will be controlled by an automated system that, unlike traditional wiring, makes use of a Bus system to enable domotic functions and applications for domestic use. Furthermore, this innovative Bus based technology drastically reduces the level of electromagnetic emissions, thanks to the low voltage supply, with almost no pollution.
The low voltage energy supply will come from ENEL’s electrical cabin located at the first underground level of the car park, which has independent road level access, with meters both for the common areas and individual properties. The boathouse, garage, storage areas and properties will be supplied through a simple radial circuit.
The electrical wiring system of each property will have a recessed domotic electrical box, with touch-screen controls, positioned behind the front door, power wiring, sockets for cooking appliances (which will be electric or induction), lighting system (excluding lamps/bulbs), satellite and digital terrestrial TV connection (a communal satellite receiver dish will be installed), telephone and data sockets (without cables, they are laid by the service provider), video phone entry system and intrusion detection system with volumetric sensors.
Residential units will have power and switching modules made by BTicino, Axolute Etèris model, with white switching plates.
The electrical wiring system of the common areas will consist of general and zonal electrical boxes, power wiring, lighting system complete with lamps/bulbs, car lift electricity supply, elevator electricity supply, centralised satellite receiver dish and CCTV with closed circuit cameras.
The garage and boathouse lights will be from Disano, Forma model, in steel with fluorescent lamps. The stairwells and road level shelter will have recessed lights from Regent, Super Slim model, with casing and protective glass.
In the storage and service areas there will be caged oval overhead lights.
The electrical tubing of the garage and boathouse will be external and visible.
The three underground levels of the garage and boathouse will have a smoke detection system, linked to the fire alarm system, in accordance with the regulations of the Fire Brigade
The building will have a generator to supply power to the car lift, elevators and illuminate the common areas in case of emergency.
Energy class A, Energy value 28,9 kWh/m²
Features Terrace, Boat house with boat lift, internal elevator, private beach, boat mooring, Lake view, Garden, Balcony, alarm system.
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