"I Vivai al Parugiano", a new accommodation complex that includes a restaurant and a hotel with an outdoor swimming pool and wellness area, represents a project that combines architectural recovery and environmental sustainability. The complex, located in a rural setting that once served as a shelter and nursery for "Villa Pazzi al Parugiano", reinterprets the traditional farmhouse agglomeration, blending harmoniously into the surrounding landscape.
Between architecture and contemporary design
The project combines the renovation of a 19th century farmhouse with new volumes, linked by a minimal and contemporary language. A distinctive element of the architectural intervention is the "mandolate", a handmade brick membrane that filters light and enriches the glass surfaces, giving a warm atmosphere to the interiors and creating a visual dialogue with the landscape.
A landscape designed for ecological continuity
Vegetation is the link between architecture and landscape: native species with low water requirements are used for borders and flower meadows, providing a natural transition between gardens and countryside. Along the ring road to the south, a strip of lowland forest provides acoustic and visual isolation, recovering a type of vegetation that has almost disappeared. The visual relationship with the fields and the "Rocca di Montemurlo" remains intact thanks to vegetation designed to preserve views. The apparently rigid geometry of the connecting axes is mitigated by the softness of the green shapes. Characterising elements such as mulberry trees, olive trees or the rustic lawn bring the project back into the canons of the Tuscan countryside.
Light as a design element
The lighting is designed to enhance the identity of the site without interfering with its natural balance. The choice of warm lighting and the approach to light pollution-free design offer visual comfort and a pleasant, immersive experience.
The luminaires were discreetly inserted into the context, trying to minimise their visual impact. The Ghost family step markers were used at the retaining walls in order to fully integrate the luminaires into the building material wherever possible.
The stairs leading to the suites on the upper floors are accompanied by light from Miniskill, small recessed wall-mounted step markers that seem to disappear into the wall partition, illuminating the surface of the terracotta steps with a warm, soft beam.
The roadways are characterised by two types of lighting.
At driveways and car parks, the Tomorrow product, used in its different dimensional variants, makes the transit areas recognisable. The use of different heights aims precisely at simulating the course of hedges and creating a constant dialogue with the surrounding landscape.
The pedestrian paths, whose geometry is designed to ensure views towards the hill and the "Rocca di Montemurlo", are illuminated by bollards from the Look family, also chosen in a burnished bronze version and warm 2700 K light.
In the pool area, these bollards and their ground-directed lighting effect are reflected on the surface of the water, enriching the overall view with warm reflections. Their simple and minimalist aesthetics create a recognisable and continuous language in all guest areas.
Also in the case of wall lighting, the designers opted for a solution that ensures maximum visual comfort and no upward scattered light. The Cool wall mounted are visually light and emit light directed towards the wall. The result is a soft, indirect effect that enhances the materiality of the stone walls. The vegetation creates a filter between the public and private areas, moving the flat entrances away from the circulation areas through hydrangea bushes, lavender and grasses.
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