Italian design in the house built by Litarh in Vicenza

I sometimes hear that a timber-framed house is fragile, does not support certain architectural artifices and is not aesthetic. The house built by Litarh that I present here is the perfect argument to contradict all these opinions. Designed by the Italian architectural studio Conte & Ferrari, the house is striking in design, modern and bright, with wide openings and subtle combinations of materials and textures. At the same time, it is very well insulated and robust, and is built in compliance with all the requirements for earthquake resistance. Litarh, the manufacturer of wooden houses in the Valley of Moldovabuilt the elements of the house in the factory in Romania and assembled them in just 6 weeks in Vicenza, Italy, fulfilling the dream of the Italian owner.

After the experience of living in a house built by Litarh he built his own house using the same builder

Matteo lived for 7 years with his family in a house built by Litarh in Vicenza in 2012. After the pleasant experience of living there, when he decided to build his own house, he knew from the beginning what type of structure he would choose and who would build it. After the architectural studio Conte & Ferrari did the architectural design, he contacted Vlad Liteanu to "book" his house. The house was to be built in 2019, but he wanted everything to be done on the fly, so he worked out all the details in the first half of 2018.

The house is 240 m² on two levels. On the ground floor there is a very large open space including living room, open kitchen with dining area and staircase leading upstairs. In addition to this space, also on the ground floor, is the garage, a laundry area and a bathroom. Upstairs are three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The house has a roof made of exposed wooden beams using the false strut, basically two rows of beams stacked on top of each other so that, in addition to the aesthetic aspect, it can also provide very good thermal and acoustic insulation. I will come back to this subject in detail. The heating is underfloor heating and ceramic tiles were used as cladding, another argument in support of the fact that such houses are very robust and can support very heavy weights.

He built a house so sturdy that "it can be passed down to great-great-grandchildren"

The construction elements of the house - walls, floorboards, beams, trusses - were machined and assembled at factory in Valea Moldovei. The process took 2 months. Being a house with wide open spaces, built in a seismic area (the whole of Italy is declared a high seismic risk area), the walls are very solid, even if some of them are 8-9 m long. The structure of a wall included wooden bones 60 mm, clad on the inside and outside with 15 mm OSB. OSB layers 150 mm thick semi-rigid basalt wool insulation was installed. A 60 mm technical space was left towards the interior for the electrical routes, closed with another 12 mm OSB cladding, over which gypsum plasterboard was installed.

The roof was made using the false strut. That is to say, over the remaining exposed beams 18 mm panelling was installed, then vapour barrier, insulation rafters, 200 mm semi-rigid basalt wool insulation, 40 mm high density (140 kg/m³) wood fibre board and 60 mm super dense (230 kg/m³) AGEPAN THD wood fibre board. Thus, lamellar beams and the floor remained visible with no negative effect on the thermal insulation.

The elements were mounted with special Rothoblaas earthquake-resistant connectors on a curb that raised the house's footing. Also on site, 100 mm rigid basalt wool insulation was installed on the outside. The strength calculation was made by Litarh and checked and approved, as required by law, by specialist Italian engineers. The result is a very sturdy, strong house, which Vlad Liteanu says can be passed on to his great-grandchildren. Three Litarh carpenters worked on the construction of the house and everything was done in 6 weeks. When the team had completed its work, the house only needed the interior and exterior finishes before being furnished.

Built in accordance with the Italian law on thermal lag

In addition to earthquake resistance, the house had to meet another requirement. In Italy, it is very important to insulate in summer so that the house stays cool and the use of air conditioners is avoided. This requirement is regulated by Law 10/1992, which says that every project must contain a calculation of the thermal phase shift, which must be greater than 10 hours.

Thermal breakdown is the time interval from the moment of thermal action on one side of the building element to the moment of thermal action on the opposite side. This means that, depending on the materials used in the construction of the outer wall and the way it is made, the outside temperature reaches the inside more quickly or more slowly through that wall. The thermal break is related to comfort in summer, when the requirement is that the effect of heating the exterior elements due to high air temperature and direct sunlight is felt inside with a certain delay. A time of more than 10 hours means that the very hot and sunny period of the day is exceeded and so the outside heat does not reach the house.

Calculations showed that the insulation materials used and the way Litarh designed the structure of the building elements resulted in a thermal lag of 13 hours for the exterior walls and 14 hours for the roof.

Contrary to some opinions, a house on wooden structure can have a very modern design

The timber-frame house in Vicenza, built by Litarh, combines contemporary architecture with classical construction solutions that provide strength and stability. Wide spaces, generous windows, suspended staircase, exposed beams, fireplace give a modern and pleasant air to the interior. The natural wood colour of the steps and beams are accents that, together with the grey of the sofa and the black of the fireplace, accentuate the monochrome of the space.

The beams are also visible outside, both at the entrance, where they support the balcony, and on the opposite side, where they form the roof of the terrace. The shape of the terrace pillars, the framing elements of the windows and balconies give a cubist air to the whole house. The minimalist landscaping of the courtyard, with lawn, gravel and a few plants, together with the architectural lighting and the white colour of the exterior finish, highlight the simple elegance of the house. It feels Italian in design and Conte & Ferrari fully deserve our appreciation for this project.

I'm sure that, looking at the photos of the house built by Litarh in Vicenza, even the most sceptical of this construction method will see it as an alternative.

Photos from the factory and construction site: Vlad Liteanu - Litarh

Photographer of the finished house: Matteo Conte - Conte & Ferrari Architetti Associati