The relationship with the landscape guides the entire transformation. The internal layout and the design of the new openings establish a continuous relationship with the outdoors, orienting the rooms towards the vineyards and hills.
Project Name: House & Guesthouse in the Langhe
Studio Name: Q&A Studio
Location: Neive (Italy)
Completion: July 2026
Built area: 400 sqm
Design team: Arch. Lorenzo Trucato, Arch. Michele Armando
Photographer: Beppe Giardino
The same principle informs the redesign of the façades: the strong verticality of the original building is softened through a succession of horizontal bands, treated with different materials and tones, relating the volume to the lines of the territory, from the rows of vines to the terraces.
The project is based on the retrofitting of a 1970s house located on the hills of Neive,
overlooking the vineyards of the Langhe. The intervention preserves the structure,
masonry walls and roof of the existing building, while radically transforming its interiors, openings, façade and relationship with the surrounding context. From a predominantly introverted building, the house is reimagined as an architecture open to the territory, where the landscape becomes the project’s primary element.
The programme stems from the owners’ desire, both closely connected to the world of high-level food and wine, to combine a family home and a small hospitality structure within the same building. The house therefore accommodates the main residence and three independent guesthouse units, conceived for visitors with a strong interest in the territory and the gastronomic culture of the Langhe. The different functions coexist within a single volume while maintaining complete autonomy.
The new extension of the terrace further strengthens this relationship, transforming it into a true belvedere overlooking the landscape. The outdoor surface projects towards the valley like a platform above the vineyards, extending the spaces of the house towards the territory and creating a new privileged viewpoint over the surrounding landscape.
The interiors also adopt a contemporary, essential and measured language. A central element is the concrete column running vertically through the building, creating an ideal continuity between the basement and ground floor. Its material character has been
deliberately left exposed, turning the column into an architectural element that visually
connects the different levels of the house.
The colour palette draws inspiration from the landscape of the Langhe, introducing shades of green and orange that recall the vegetation, vineyards and seasonal variations of the territory. Laminate wood flooring and Mirage ceramics for bathrooms and wall coverings provide a material base for vintage furniture and pieces found in local antique markets. Chairs and tables deliberately recall the forms and atmosphere of the area’s old osterie, introducing a sense of everyday local memory into the interiors.
The architectural transformation is accompanied by a deep energy upgrade. The preservation of the existing building is combined with interventions to the envelope, windows and systems, bringing a 1970s construction up to contemporary standards of comfort and efficiency. The project therefore interprets retrofitting as a tool for architectural transformation: preserving what can continue to exist while intervening precisely to modify its use, perception and relationship with the place.
