The building is located in Ragusa, within a historic city-center neighborhood urbanized during the 19th century. Here, an orthogonal grid adapts to the terrain’s slope along parallel longitudinal street lines, connected by short transverse stairways. The result is a terraced urban layout where houses face different street levels.
The project involves a portion of a single building structure that underwent numerous alterations over time due to property subdivisions, resulting in a complex tangle of adjacent ownerships.
Prior to the intervention, the property was accessed from a narrow alley to the north, while to the south, the residence overlooked a wider street. On the lower floors of this southern side, artisanal dairy activities for producing local caciocavallo cheese were originally conducted.
By hollowing out a section of the existing building, the intervention enabled an optimal reorganization of space. This prompted a reflection on subtraction as a strategy for transforming and reusing historic structures.
This approach, requiring a conscious decision to sacrifice a portion of existing volume to gain significant functional benefits, allowed for the creation of an internal courtyard, improving both circulation and usability throughout the living spaces.
The house turns inward, isolating itself from the immediate surroundings to ensure privacy. Sheltered from strong winds and facing south, the new internal void allows sunlight to flood the primary living areas.
Serving as the new entrance to the home, the courtyard marries historic trace elements with modern innovation; the courtyard typology itself represents an import from consolidated building traditions. Steel-grate walkways paired with reclaimed Art Nouveau railings create a striking contrast against the mass of the solid stone masonry.
The building’s exterior envelope remains unchanged. Interventions were limited to replacing wooden window frames, restoring facades with natural hydraulic lime plaster, and brushing and treating the existing stone elements. Particular emphasis was placed on salvaging original materials: items such as interior doors and stamped cement floor tiles were carefully removed, cataloged, and reassembled.
Sustainable design
A new vertical connection was inserted along the north wall, the coldest and dampest side during winter months, moving living areas away from this zone so they now open directly onto the south-facing courtyard.
Thanks to natural ventilation, the courtyard acts as a solar chimney, enhancing the thermal performance of the entire home.
Rainwater is harvested inside the former brine vats once used for aging caciocavallo cheese. It is then repurposed for toilet flushing and for irrigating courtyard plants, which further help cool the residence during summer.
