☉ Castle Resort is an honour mention proposal by Fondaco Architettura for Young Architects Competitions in 2017. It is located in Roccamandolfi Italy in a mountain and forest setting. Its scale is small. Key material is wood. Review the 7 proposals for the same competition.
The new resort accommodations are raised in symbiosis with the majesty of the landscape and the castle heritage.
The volumes shape derives from an original octagon, which can stand alone or be stretched to form a pavilion. The aim is to satisfy with this system the needs of all costumers, providing accommodations of different size and with different services spread on the hillsides.
Made by a prefabricated timber structure, standing on pillars, with a bracing system on the edges and a plate roof, the new volumes nestle between the trees, facing both the mountains and the castle. While the external structure doesn’t change, the inner prefabricated modules of the pavilion can be composed in different ways, with two exedras at the extremities hosting the service spaces.
The Castle fortress, the heart of the settlement, is left open to the public, with a bar and a restaurant sheltered in a new structure which is as well a composition of the original module. A new boardwalk follows the southern walls and the defensive towers, providing a spectacular view of the surrounding landscape.
The structure is made of prefabricated cedar wood blocks (section 7×14 cm) dry mounted with screws and reinforced by threaded rods.
The exoskeleton is the elementary structure unvaried and independent which can host the different types of accommodations.
The prefabricated rooms are composed of a double timber framework, a high energy efficient thermal insulation made of expanded polystyrene panels, wooden doors and windows with double glazing, a waterproof coating on the horizontal structures and an exterior finish in cedar wood planks.
A burnished plate roof with solar panels made of thin film solar cells makes each module energy self-sufficient.