A new awareness is required from designers. The environmental one. This is how Giuseppe Rossi, the architect who designed Lo Scudo di Stabio, explained the birth and evolution of the project on the occasion of the delivery of the SNBS (Swiss Sustainable Construction Standard) certification, assigned for the first time to a building in Ticino.
“We must all become aware of the effort we must make in designing - explained Rossi -. From the choice of materials to social relationships”
In the case of Lo Scudo di Stabio the cork cladding, Rossi said, is a highly symbolic example of this awareness. "Cork - he recalled - is produced with ten-year cycles: for ten years I have to respect and treat the plant well and then I can take the bark - there is the concept of taking care of it to ensure continuous turnover and regeneration".
The building envelope was made of wood with 40 centimeters of insulating material, and modular prefabrication solutions were used as for the bathroom pods.
For the suspended plinth, "the reinforced concrete was produced with recycling as far as it could go". The focus was on the modularity of the individual units and the airtightness of each was checked.
“Even for the excavations - explained Rossi -, land was consumed as little as possible - just enough to create the underground technical rooms".
The building was oriented with respect to the orography and solar radiation. The ground floor is open, transparent with an idea of a social dimension, which continues into the garden where spices can be picked: "With my collaborators - said Rossi - after a meeting, we collected the basil and made some jars of pesto”.
The Scudo di Stabio is a technologically advanced building, made with sustainable materials but also open to the locals. This is what ecological awareness means.