Architects: Mila
Lead Architect: Jakob Tigges
Team: Luigi Scapin, Silvia Cipirian, Marc Frederking
Construction Company: Umbria Costruzioni
Structure Engineer: Studio Associato Maggi
Location: Montepulciano, Italy
Area: 50 m²
Year: 2019
Photographs: Evgeniya Savina, Jakob Tigges
The owner of a marvelous boutique hotel in Tuscany badly wanted a luxurious hotel room on a tree. As luxury and comfort are hard to provide on a tree without killing the tree we’ve planned the house adjacent to the biggest tree we could find on the property – right on the edge of the Cicolina hill close to Montepulciano.
In order to provide views as if you were in the tree the volume is arranged as generous stairs mounting up next to the tree. A steel/wood construction is held by a concrete core that contains all technical facilities and subdivides the monospace into a part that lies on the hill and a larger cantilevered part that flies above the slope towards the lower-lying Chiana valley.
The interior space of Tuscany Retreat is clad with textured wood panels to provide an intimate “in the trunk”-feeling. Three large openings provide different landscape views. From bed and Loggia, you can see over the entire valley onto the mountain range on the other side.
