A courtyard building offers a facade to be seen by train travellers

A few steps from the Park of the Villa Reale in Monza, a historic city ten kilometers from Milan, a new residential building occupies the liminal space between an old guard rail house and the railway. In the intentions of the designer, the architect Gino Guarnieri of Studio a Milano, the new construction allows to recompose the disorganicity of the built territory, reconstructing the archetypal figure of the old Lombard agricultural court thanks to the new co-presence between the buildings.  

Articulated on two contiguous blocks joined to V at an angle of 129°, the new building stands out for its dry figure which acquires iconic value thanks to the formal and material continuity between the front elevation and the roof. Some of the features of the guard rail house remain, such as the presence of wide external walkways, but it is the monomateriality of the heat-treated bamboo cladding that affirm itself as a contemporary prerogative, contributing to regenerate the quality of the landscape also through what the architect defines as a "relationship façade" for travellers on the railway line.  

In addition to the extensive use of bamboo, the sustainable features of the building include, among others, the ventilated façade and photovoltaic panels on the roof. Articulated on different floor plans ranging from the guesthouse to the three-room apartment, the apartments' typologies are designed to meet the needs of different inhabitants. The interiors find value from the multiplication of natural lighting sources, including that resulting from the direct view of the terrace.