Social Housing Matera #2
Location: Matera
Area: 2.500 Smq
Client: Nemesis Foundation
Project time: 2013
Two asymmetric volumes face one another, enclosing a small private courtyard and a new “park-like” space that is privately owned yet publicly accessible.
The green areas are conceived as a dynamic landscape, organised into zones: more intimate spaces associated with the residences and more extroverted areas intended for the wider neighbourhood.
Water plays a fundamental and generative role within the project. Beyond its aesthetic presence, the reflecting pools improve the microclimate of both the courtyard and the “park” during the hottest periods of the year, cooling the surrounding air.
The car park, sized beyond standard requirements, accommodates a dedicated car-sharing zone—an essential service aimed at reducing car ownership among future residents. A covered area, sculptural in form and a recognisable feature along Via Galileo Galilei, was designed to house assisted-pedal bicycles, helping users to overcome Matera’s complex terrain and encouraging sustainable mobility.
Prefabricated housing has undergone significant development in recent years and now represents a promising direction for the construction sector. Once associated with poor quality, today’s prefabricated buildings benefit from advanced technologies, high-quality materials, seismic-resistant systems and excellent energy performance—all without compromising aesthetics or design quality. They also guarantee extremely fast construction times and allow for adjustments during assembly. Thanks to these advances, the quality of prefabricated housing now equals that of traditional buildings.
– Economic savings, both in purchase and running costs;
– Extremely rapid construction and delivery times;
– The option of choosing low-impact materials offering acoustic and energy efficiency.
Considering the socially diverse and dynamic composition of future residents, the project defines different “open” housing typologies that can adapt over time to varying needs, providing great spatial flexibility within each unit. Floor plans can expand or contract, allowing conversions from simplex to duplex, from studio to one- or two-bedroom flats, without altering the building’s overall structure or envelope in the block facing Via Nazionale. A single staircase core minimises circulation spaces, resulting in larger, more concentrated shared areas—encouraging interaction among residents.
In the basement, a large communal area brings together shared laundry/dryer facilities, meeting spaces and waiting areas in a single open-plan layout—promoting interaction and reinforcing a sense of belonging.
Another fundamental aspect of social housing design is sustainability and energy efficiency—not only during design but also in the choice of materials.
The building form and orientation were conceived to prevent mutual overshadowing between the two volumes and to make full use of natural summer and winter air currents. The variously sized windows respond to different orientations to maximise passive solar gain. Rainwater is collected in tanks placed along the exterior of each block and reused for irrigation and toilet flushing.
As a thermal regulator, an external water basin—a true “open-air pool”—was introduced in the courtyard, exploiting the thermal inertia of water to stabilise air temperatures. The aim is to influence the formation of breezes generated by the temperature variations occurring throughout the daily cycle (day and night). The potential of this solution will enable greater passive cooling during the warmest months of the year.
GREEN ROOF
The decision to use a green roof stems from various needs and design objectives: it significantly reduces the reliance on air-conditioning systems during the summer and provides adequate insulation in both winter and summer. These two factors lead to reduced use of cooling systems in the warmer months and lower heating costs in winter, ultimately achieving substantial energy savings.