RESIDENTIAL BUILDING VICOLO VENIER
Treviso, Italy
2019 - 2025
The site is located on Vicolo Venier in Treviso, facing Bastione San Paolo across the River Sile. A small watercourse, branching from the Sile, runs directly in front of the plot. The surrounding neighborhood is characterized by a small-scale urban fabric composed of studios, offices, and residential buildings, resulting in a compact and relatively quiet mixed-use context. Immediately adjacent to the site stand a three-story residential and office building built in the 1990s and a surface parking area; these three assets were originally under single ownership, namely that of our client.
Nearby residential & office building
Site before developing
At the end of 2018, the client’s initial intention was to sell the long-vacant plot outright. After a systematic review of planning regulations, volume constraints, local real estate market supply & demand and the site’s locational attributes, Studio LUMI reached a different conclusion: under the prevailing policy and market conditions, a straightforward land sale would not fully unlock the site’s potential value.
We therefore recommended that the client advanced a development project with an established approval foundation through self-development. By undertaking preliminary planning and architectural scheme refinement, a clearer development outlook and spatial quality framework could be established for the asset. Consequently, the site's volume and architectural quality could be optimised; the parking area would be integrated into a coherent overall development logic without requiring additional setback concessions, eliminating the need for additional setbacks; simultaneously, the land gained a more stable and certain market valuation, with a clear planning permission and a defined design vision.
The initial proposal, constrained by the existing volume control, was limited to a compact residential building. On the 10th April 2019, the Piano Casa Veneto (Legge Regionale 14/2019) was officially issued and effective. Its stated objective is to promote urban regeneration and improve living standards through enhancements in building quality. This legislative shift opened a new operational framework for the project. With a precise understanding of the regulatory provisions and technical pathways, Studio LUMI incorporated energy retrofitting and sustainable construction measures into the overall design strategy: upgrading the thermal performance of the existing building envelope, reinforcing insulation, introducing a photovoltaic roof system and committing to the installation of solar panels on the new building. This approach aligned with the policy’s incentive mechanism, whereby improvements in building performance could justify an increase in allowable volume. The site also falls within the landscape control zone of the Parco del Sile. We assisted in securing approval from the Soprintendenza Archeologica, Belle Arti e Paesaggio. Supported by the combined strategy of energy performance upgrades and landscape-sensitive design, the new building volume was granted an increase of nearly 50%. Compared to the original development framework, the final scheme almost doubled the buildable volume while maintaining an appropriate scale in relation to the surrounding natural context.
Attic floor plan
At the design level, the core concept of the project is to provide each dwelling with a living room directly oriented toward the townscape. All principal terraces are therefore positioned toward the most privileged views of Treviso’s historic center, allowing the urban panorama to become an extension of domestic life. The second-floor volume is twisted to generate more outdoor spaces. The terrace and the interior interact both in plan and elevation, forming a continuous circular loop reminiscent of a villa courtyard typology.
For the façade strategy, the ground floor employs brown zinc-titanium cladding as the primary material, responding to the site's waterfront climate through its weather resistance and low-maintenance properties. The upper floors employ white façades, using the colour division to enhance the building's sense of lightness and suspension. At the ground and the second floors, continuous louvered elements form semi-outdoor spaces, moderating solar exposure while allowing residents to modulate openness over time, either fully open or temporarily enclosed with textile shading devices.
Interior guidelines by Studio LUMI
Studio LUMI also provided design guidelines for the interior architecture of the residential building, establishing a coherent spatial and material framework aligned with the overall architectural concept. Oak flooring was specified throughout the primary living areas, introducing warmth and material continuity, while white-painted walls enhance the perception of daylight and spatial amplitude, offering future occupants a flexible and neutral backdrop adaptable to individual modes of inhabitation.
Upon completion of the design and approval phases, the client chose to sell the land together with the fully approved scheme to a new construction company. Construction and subsequent sales were carried out by the new developer in accordance with Studio LUMI's visional framework. With the transfer of both the asset and the approved scheme, Studio LUMI's involvement concluded at the pre-development stage and we did not participate in the subsequent construction management.
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Construction site images
Project details
TIME
2019 - 2025
TYPE
Residential / Sustainability / Development
AREA
712 m2
CLIENT
Private
DESIGN
Studio LUMI
BUDGET
1 million Euro
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