Turning An Abandoned Grotto della Roccia Into A New One

Front view Grotto della Doccia, Photo by Marcelo Villada

The Grotto della Roccia is a small historic building abandoned for almost a century. Interestingly, this building is located on a rocky cliff on one side of Lake Lugano, Switzerland. Although the building is in poor condition and abandoned, Enrico Sassi Architetto was commissioned to preserve it by retaining its original appearance as much as possible but also expanding the outer and inner terraces as a link between the two floors with the new staircase.

New staircase, Photo by Marcelo Villada

New staircase, Photo by Simone Bossi

The building is divided into three levels, on the lower level there is a vaulted basement carved on top of the rock as a reinforcement of the building because there is a small terrace on the floor above, the ground floor with one side of the wall made of stone with an inner dimension of 3.4 x 3.6 m, and on the upper floor, which has the same size dimensions as the ground floor and can only be accessed from the outside.

Section Grotto della Doccia, Source by Enrico Sassi Architetto

Structural changes were minimized in this building by only retrofitting and replacing those already dangerous or in a very unfavorable condition, such as in the basement reinforced with new walls and reinforced concrete ceilings molded in the original masonry. On the ground floor, repairs were replaced with reinforced concrete and new metal beams whose surfaces were seeded with porphyry aggregates from Cuasso al Monte and Limestone from Moltrasio (Sasso di Caprino) and further mashed.

First floor interior, Photo by Marcelo Villada

Enrico Sassi Architetto also removed the back wall of the original building to get additional space used for a new exposed concrete staircase. This made the building have more stone faces on the inside of the room. In this change, Enrico Sassi Architetto took into account the strength of the building so that it was not destroyed. Therefore, two new reinforced concrete walls and floors were built to cover the new joint and strengthen the original building by connecting it to the stone behind. In addition, the space function in this building has slightly changed, such as in the basement building a bathroom separated by a curved concrete wall from the corridor. Then on the upper floor, the main door was changed to a south-facing window, and the existing roof was replaced.

Second floor interior, Photo by Marcelo Villada

Toilet interior, Photo by Marcelo Villada

Stone wall, Photo by Simone Bossi

From the outside, the façade of the damaged building was restored so that the original image decoration was again visible, and new external spaces were added to complement the existing terrace. The material used for this terrace was used stone (Pophyry of Cuasso al Monte, Sasso di Caprino, granite slabs and pieces of white marble obtained from use). For almost a century, this abandoned and damaged building has been maintained and raised to a new standard, even in external and internal appearance by Enrico Sassi Architetto.

Front view Grotto della Doccia, Photo by Simone Bossi