SOLUM

Patio House

Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri

Patio House

Solum Studio

ARCHITECTS
Solum Studio

COLLABORATORS
Gian Mario Vecchiato

TEAM
Mattia Agates, Lorenzo Campagna, Filippo Gismondi, Alessandro Loda

MANUFACTURERS
Carl Hansen, Fornace Sant'Anselmo, Ideal Work, Sicilianagessi, dnd

PHOTOGRAPHS
Nicolò Panzeri

AREA
400 m²

YEAR
2025

LOCATION
Avola, Italy

CATEGORY
Residential Architecture, Houses

English description provided by the architects.

Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri

Located in Sicily, in the province of Syracuse, the patio house fully occupies the buildable area of the plot: a narrow strip of land stretching toward the sea and ending on a cliff.

The project develops longitudinally, from the access road to the sea, and is conceived as an introverted oasis that opens toward the seascape through the living area.

The villa is defined by a series of continuously designed walls that structure and organize the interior and exterior spaces, generating along its perimeter five independent rooms and a living area facing the sea.

Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri

Emphasizing the private nature of the project are the patios, marked by full-height walls that set the rhythm of the spaces.

Each bedroom overlooks a private patio that filters natural light and ensures the privacy needed in the more intimate areas.

Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri

An uncovered internal pathway serves as a distribution axis, independently connecting the rooms and establishing a continuous relationship between the sleeping area and the living area.

This walkway, conceived as a small alley, leads from the main entrance to the sea, weaving between the rooms in an alternation of compressed and expanded spaces.

From this open-air promenade, one accesses the living area, which opens to the sea through large sliding windows that disappear into the walls.

Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri

The kitchen, connected to the living room, receives natural light from an additional patio, inside which a staircase leads to the upper terrace, offering panoramic views of the surrounding landscape.

From above, the design of the walls reveals the labyrinthine play of the floor plan, where solids and voids, in their narrowing and expanding, define the openings toward the outside.

All outdoor green areas are conceived as a spontaneous and local landscape, featuring two terraces made of Noto stone.

Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri

Built dry, following tradition, these define the outdoor spaces and the pool area, which is clad in lava stone.

The project appears as an introverted, porous, and mysterious architecture that does not reveal its spatial variety from the outside.

The textured earth-toned walls, the warm-toned concrete floors, and the absence of glass on the façade recall the simplicity of vernacular architecture and tie the building closely to the surrounding landscape.

Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri


Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri


Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri
Patio House
© Nicolò Panzeri


Patio House
Plan

SOLUM
T +39 02 3672 0840
SOLUM
Via Bramante, 9, 20154 Milano MI, Italy