Enrico Sassi brings to life the ruined caves embedded in the cliffs of Switzerland
a swiss ruin embedded in the rock
Architect Enrico Sassi unveils the renovation of the Grotte della Roccia, a small historic building overlooking Lake Lugano in Switzerland. the ruinous building had been out of order for almost a century and is nestled high above the water in the rocky cliff. the building has three levels: a basement with a barrel vaulted cellar dug into the rock with a small terrace above it, a ground floor with one side made of rocks with internal dimensions 3.1 x 3.1 m and an upper floor of the same Dimensions that were only accessible from the outside.
Images © marcelo villada ortiz
the conservation of enrico sassi
while the building was in a completely dilapidated state, the conservation was carried out by enrico sassi (see more) has retained as much of its original appearance as possible. At the same time, the outside terrace was enlarged by connecting the two floors with a new staircase.
internally, the team carried out structural consolidation work. New walls were erected in the basement and a new ten centimeter thick reinforced concrete slab was poured into the original masonry. on the upper floors, the existing slab was replaced by a new one made of reinforced concrete and metal beams, the surface of which was seeded with porphyry aggregates from cuasso al monte and limestone from moltrasio (sasso di caprino) and then smoothed.
the grotto made of exposed rock and concrete
The rear wall of the original building was removed to make room for the construction of the exposed concrete staircase, giving the building interior more rock surface. Then two new reinforced concrete walls and a new reinforced concrete slab were erected, which, in addition to covering the new connection, also strengthened the original building by being completely connected to the rock behind it.
A bathroom was introduced in the basement, separated from the hallway by a 3.5 centimeter thick curved concrete wall; on the upper floor, the door leading to the outside was converted into a south-facing window and the existing roof was replaced. everything else was left as it was or restored.
the ornate facade
The damaged facade of the Grotte della Roccia has been restored. The team revitalized the original ornaments that adorned the surface and added a new terrace to the existing terrace. the surface of both terraces was paved with recycled stones – porfido di cuasso al monte, sasso di caprino, granite slabs and white marble strips obtained from the reuse of antique slabs with the names of the streets of the city of lugano. the original parapets were retained and modified to comply with the law; the new ones, also internal, are in coarsely oxidized iron.