On the third floor of a completely renovated 1970s building in Sesto Calende, in the province of Varese (in northern Italy), a large apartment of about 300 square meters becomes Casa T&L: a refined place, with a rich yet essential atmosphere that protects from the external frenzy
Among the many housing projects that the duearchitetti' studio has worked on, for Casa T&L they found themselves in front of an apartment with a generous size and an almost square layout. Five large openings on the north side overlook a heavily urbanized, saturated, and noisy landscape; the south and west sides, instead, overlook some recent buildings among which you can see the Ticino River and the Monte Rosa mountain range
The architects' first impulse was to contrast the chaotic external environment with a calm atmosphere and a clear identity to the protected space inside. The space, which appeared open, only punctuated by regularly spaced reinforced concrete pillars, was organized by the new project around a central service strip, with other areas distributed around it. This way, all natural light is reserved for the main spaces, and the service block conceals a large utility trench for the systems
Casa T&L is distributed from an entrance that leads to the right into a generous living space with a double living room and dining area, where the first terrace also opens; to the left from the entrance, you access the large kitchen with another terrace and a hallway area created from a large storage closet. From here, you move to the sleeping area with two single bedrooms communicating with each other and sharing the same bathroom, a third single bedroom with a bathroom, and the master suite. The master suite is accessed from a spacious service area with a walk-in closet and private bathroom
The materials chosen for Casa T&L are the result of a deliberately limited selection to give compositional and aesthetic unity to the apartment: whites, grays, and some black accents for the walls are found throughout the house with dark-stained oak for the floors and natural oak for the cabinetry. Full-height frosted glass doors allow natural light to penetrate the rooms
