Active Villa

Compiled by Avinash Yadav

Photography: Luca Morandini; courtesy the architect

Read Time: 2 mins

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Statutory warning! Never judge still water. If you judge it by the scale and its facade, then you’re mistaken. Come close, closer, and you will know its depth.

When you first clap your eyes on Active Villa, it comes across as a simple nondescript house; but look closer, and it reveals dramatic architectural vocabulary. Designed by Alberto Apostoli in the countryside of Verona, Active Villa, as it has been christened, strikes a balance between forms, compositional simplicity and technology with the client’s high expectations living in close harmony with the serene surroundings.

 

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The heart of the home is its very high energy performing cutting-edge technology. The system that turns the villa into an active building produces more energy than it has consumed with zero emission, as electricity is the only energy used, with no provision for gas.

A high-performance geothermal pump (8 kW thermal power) balances the act with the change in climate by providing air-conditioning, which manages the production of winter heat and summer cooling, with very low energy consumption.  In winter, the pump transfers heat from the subsoil - collected via closed-circuit horizontal probes placed in the garden - by means of heat storage, which can also produce domestic hot water. A radiant floor heating system is connected to the accumulation system.

 

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The windowed areas are designed to optimise the exploitation of winter irradiation and effect summer shading, which occurs by means of special, suitably sized verandas facing south. During daytime, the geothermal pump is powered by a photovoltaic system of about 12 Kwp, designed to supply usable solar power, equipped with a Li-ion storage battery system. This solar power also provides energy during the evening and at night.

The entire home is auto managed via KNX system with Ikon supervision, simply via "App" (as well as via the web), at a click of a button. It is possible to turn on, off and adjust the lighting, control electric curtains, enable particular scenarios, handle alarms and check the video surveillance present on the building.

 

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So, while on the one hand, we have architecture, which is rather basic but strongly related to the stylistic features of local tradition and the district concerned; on the other, we have a truly modern home using innovative technology.

Fact File:

Architectural Design: Studio Apostoli

Thermal Plant Design: Ing. Michele Marcolin

Automation System Design: P.I. Mauro Dalla Via

Home Automation Systems Design: Ing. Daniele Burato

Thermal Systems Construction: Pa.Si Termoidraulica

Electrical and Photovoltaic Plant Construction: Soluzioni Energetiche s.r.l