--- slug: casa-a-carovigno title: House in Carovigno — A bioclimatic design residence amongst the olive trees in Puglia hero_subtitle: A house on a podium that transforms the constraints of the Apulian agricultural landscape into the guiding principles of the design. year: 2024-2025 location: Carovigno (BR), Apulia typology: Detached house vertical_primary: Sustainable Design vertical_primary_slug: sustainable-design badge_raw: 2024–2025 · Carovigno (BR), Apulia · Detached house · Sustainable Design scheda: Location: Carovigno (BR), Apulia, Italy Year: "2024" Client: Private Typology: Detached house Area: 137.51 m² (residential) + 76.98 m² (ancillary areas) Status: Planning application submitted (July 2024) Designer: Architect Micaela Colella (project manager), with Maurizio Barberio and Angelo Figliola Main materials: Hempcrete blocks, local stone, timber for shading, reinforced concrete (RC) images: - filename: casa-a-carovigno-exterior-01.jpg alt: Exterior view of a bioclimatic house amongst olive trees in Carovigno caption: The white building blends into the Apulian landscape, screened by the existing vegetation. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-exterior-02.jpg alt: South-facing facade with timber sunshades, Carovigno caption: Sliding timber sunshades protect the south-facing facade from overheating in summer. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-interior-kitchen-garden-view.jpg alt: Perspective rendering of a house on a podium in Carovigno caption: The podium-style building reflects Mediterranean typology, with a staircase made of local stone integrated into the terraced landscape. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-interior-kitchen-olive-grove-view.jpg alt: Integration of a rural residence into the landscape in Puglia caption: The design minimises the visual impact by siting the house at the very back of the plot, beyond the row of olive trees. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-interior-kitchen-living-open-plan.jpg alt: Detail of a dry stone wall and Apulian terracing caption: The perimeter drystone wall is being rebuilt using traditional techniques, ensuring it blends seamlessly with the landscape. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-interior-living-room-fireplace.jpg alt: Swimming pool and external steps at the Carovigno residence caption: The semi-above-ground swimming pool blends into the terraced landscape, clad in local stone, just like the house’s podium. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-interior-living-dining-fireplace.jpg alt: General floor plan of a house amongst the olive trees in Carovigno caption: The project preserves the location of all existing olive trees on the plot, ensuring that no valuable trees are removed. faq_count: 6 related_slugs: - new-roots - bamboo-office cta: title: Are you looking for a home in Puglia that blends in with the landscape and offers you every comfort? body: If you own land in an agricultural zone and want to build a home that works with the climate, rather than against it, we can help you understand what’s buildable in your specific situation. Let’s discuss your project, with no obligation. button: Let’s talk about your project microcopy: "[Let’s talk about your project]" gallery_renders: - filename: casa-a-carovigno-exterior-01.jpg alt: Exterior view of a bioclimatic house amongst olive trees in Carovigno caption: The white building blends into the Apulian landscape, screened by the existing vegetation. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-exterior-02.jpg alt: South-facing facade with timber sunshades, Carovigno caption: Sliding timber sunshades protect the south-facing facade from overheating in summer. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-interior-living-dining-fireplace.jpg alt: General floor plan of a house amongst the olive trees in Carovigno caption: The project preserves the location of all existing olive trees on the plot, ensuring that no valuable trees are removed. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-interior-kitchen-living-open-plan.jpg alt: Detail of a dry stone wall and Apulian terracing caption: The perimeter drystone wall is being rebuilt using traditional techniques, ensuring it blends seamlessly with the landscape. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-interior-kitchen-garden-view.jpg alt: Perspective rendering of a house on a podium in Carovigno caption: The podium-style building reflects Mediterranean typology, with a staircase made of local stone integrated into the terraced landscape. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-interior-kitchen-olive-grove-view.jpg alt: Integration of a rural residence into the landscape in Puglia caption: The design minimises the visual impact by siting the house at the very back of the plot, beyond the row of olive trees. - filename: casa-a-carovigno-interior-living-room-fireplace.jpg alt: Swimming pool and external steps at the Carovigno residence caption: The semi-above-ground swimming pool blends into the terraced landscape, clad in local stone, just like the house’s podium. --- # House in Carovigno — A bioclimatic residence amongst the olive trees in Puglia _A house on a podium that transforms the constraints of the Apulian agricultural landscape into the guiding principles of the design._ **2024–2025 · Carovigno (BR), Puglia · Single-family residence · Bioclimatic Design** --- ## Living in an olive grove without altering it In Carovigno, in the Brindisi countryside of the Murgia dei Trulli, a plot of over 12,000 square metres entirely classified as an olive grove is the site of a new residence for a Belgian couple of clients. The area, bordered by dry stone walls and dotted with olive and almond trees, falls within agricultural zone E3 of the General Urban Plan: a context where building does not mean occupying, but rather integrating into a landscape balance that has been established for centuries. The design challenge was twofold: to comply with strict planning restrictions — maximum height 4 metres, floor area ratio 0.03 m³/m² — and to offer international clients a contemporary standard of living without distorting the character of the site. The strategy adopted by Architect Micaela Colella (project lead) and the team at Barberio Colella Architetti draws on a typology deeply rooted in the Mediterranean: the podium building. The house is situated on the existing natural terraced slope, at the innermost point of the plot, away from the road. This choice is not merely for aesthetic reasons: the distance from the road, combined with the dense tree cover, renders the building almost invisible from the outside. Beneath the podium, within the terraced volume, the garage, cellar and utility room are housed, making use of the existing elevation difference without adding any above-ground volume. The dry-stone perimeter wall of the terraced area is rebuilt using traditional techniques, transforming a maintenance project into an element of continuity with the landscape. On the south-facing side, the facade features movable timber shading devices — a contemporary reinterpretation of traditional Apulian shutters — which can be closed completely to protect the interior from overheating and glare. The external cladding uses hempcrete blocks, a natural material with high-performance thermal properties, plastered and painted in the white of the traditional rural lime putty. Energy self-sufficiency is ensured by a 30-square-metre photovoltaic canopy and a solar thermal panel on the roof, both screened from view by vegetation. Air conditioning is provided by a high-efficiency hydronic heat pump with a storage tank. Access to the property is via an existing opening in the dry-stone wall, with a driveway of compacted gravel — no asphalt, no waterproofing. The existing olive trees have been preserved in their original positions; only small shrubs may eventually be relocated within the plot. The project is currently at the planning permission stage, with the application submitted in July 2024. --- ## Image gallery ![Exterior view of the bioclimatic house amongst olive trees in Carovigno](images/casa-a-carovigno/casa-a-carovigno-exterior-01.jpg) *The white volume of the residence blends into the Apulian agricultural landscape, screened by the existing vegetation.* ![South facade with timber brise-soleil, Carovigno](images/casa-a-carovigno/casa-a-carovigno-exterior-02.jpg) *The sliding timber shading devices protect the south facade from overheating in summer.* ![Perspective rendering of the house on a podium in Carovigno](images/casa-a-carovigno/casa-a-carovigno-interior-kitchen-garden-view.jpg) *The building on a podium echoes the Mediterranean typology, with a staircase in local stone integrated into the terraced landscape.* ![Integration of a rural residence into the Apulian landscape](images/casa-a-carovigno/casa-a-carovigno-interior-kitchen-olive-grove-view.jpg) *The design minimises visual impact by positioning the house at the innermost point of the plot, beyond the screen of olive trees.* ![Detail of dry-stone wall and Apulian terracing](images/casa-a-carovigno/casa-a-carovigno-interior-kitchen-living-open-plan.jpg) *The perimeter dry-stone wall is rebuilt using traditional techniques, maintaining continuity with the landscape.* ![Swimming pool and external staircase, Carovigno residence](images/casa-a-carovigno/casa-a-carovigno-interior-living-room-fireplace.jpg) *The partially above-ground swimming pool blends into the terraced landscape, clad in local stone like the house’s podium.* ![General plan of the house amongst olive trees in Carovigno](images/casa-a-carovigno/casa-a-carovigno-interior-living-dining-fireplace.jpg) *The project preserves the position of all existing olive trees on the plot, avoiding the removal of any valuable trees.* --- ## Technical details - **Location:** Carovigno (BR), Puglia, Italy - **Year:** 2024 - **Client:** Private - **Typology:** Single-family residence - **Area:** 137.51 m² (residential) + 76.98 m² (ancillary areas) - **Status:** Building permit submitted (July 2024) - **Designer:** Arch. Micaela Colella (lead architect), with Maurizio Barberio and Angelo Figliola - **BCA Vertical:** Sustainable Design - **Main materials:** Hempcrete blocks, local stone, timber for shading, reinforced concrete (RC) --- ## How do you build a low-energy house in an agricultural zone of Puglia without altering the landscape? Anyone who owns agricultural land in Puglia and wishes to build a home faces a paradox: the landscape and planning restrictions are so stringent that they seem incompatible with a contemporary, comfortable house. Reduced maximum heights, minimum plot ratios, protection of dry stone walls, respect for centuries-old olive trees, buffer zones around woodland — everything seems designed to hinder, not to guide. In reality, these restrictions can become the guiding principles for a high-quality project, provided that the architecture emerges from the context rather than imposing itself upon it. In Carovigno, the solution was a building that makes use of the terrain’s topography, traditional local materials and passive bioclimatic strategies to offer high levels of comfort with virtually no visual impact. --- ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What are the planning restrictions for building in agricultural zone E3 in Carovigno? Zone E3 of Carovigno’s PUG (Urban Development Plan) stipulates a floor area ratio of 0.03 m³/m² for rural dwellings, a minimum plot size of 10,000 m², a maximum height of 4 metres and a single storey above ground. It is mandatory to preserve dry stone walls and ancient olive trees and to comply with the requirements of the Apulia Region’s PPTR (Regional Territorial Planning Plan), including forest buffer zones. The project must also obtain a landscape compatibility assessment. ### How much does it cost to build a bioclimatic design house in Puglia? The cost of a bioclimatic design house in Puglia depends on many factors: size, complexity of the site, standard of finish, and building services choices. For a residential project of approximately 140 square metres with a hempcrete building envelope, PV system with storage, hydronic heat pump and swimming pool, the estimated cost of the works is approximately between €250,000 and €400,000, excluding professional fees and charges. Integrated bioclimatic design can reduce operating costs over the building’s life cycle thanks to a reduced need for active climate control. ### What are hempcrete blocks and why use them in a house in Puglia? Hempcrete blocks are a building material composed of hemp shives (the woody part of the hemp stalk) mixed with lime. They have excellent thermal and acoustic insulation properties, naturally regulate indoor humidity and have a low environmental impact (hemp sequesters CO₂ as it grows). In a Mediterranean climate, they are particularly effective because they provide good thermal inertia and phase shift, helping to keep interiors cool in summer without excessive reliance on active climate control. ### How do movable solar shading devices work in a Mediterranean home? The movable solar shading devices in the Carovigno project are sliding timber panels on a track, inspired by traditional Apulian shutters. They can cover the entire south-facing facade when closed, blocking direct solar radiation during the hottest hours, or open fully to maximise light and views. Unlike a fixed brise-soleil, they allow the user to adjust the balance between light, privacy and thermal protection according to the season and time of day. ### Is landscape compatibility required to build in agricultural zones in Puglia? Yes. For areas subject to restrictions under the PPTR (Regional Territorial Landscape Plan) of Puglia, it is essential to obtain a landscape compatibility assessment in accordance with Article 146 of Legislative Decree 42/2004. This requires a detailed landscape report documenting the current state of the site, the project’s characteristics and the effects of the development. The report must demonstrate that the project is consistent with the objectives of protecting the restricted landscape area. ### Which architects in Bari or Puglia design bioclimatic homes in agricultural zones? Barberio Colella Architetti, based in Bari, is a practice specialising in bioclimatic design within the Mediterranean climate. The founders, both architects with PhDs, have developed specific expertise in site-specific design for the Apulian climate: microclimatic analysis, high-performance building envelopes, natural ventilation and the integration of renewable energy sources. The practice has first-hand knowledge of regulations, materials and contractors in the Apulian region. --- ## Are you thinking of a home in Puglia that respects the landscape and your comfort? If you own land in an agricultural zone and wish to build a home that works with the climate, not against it, we can help you understand what is buildable in your specific context. Let’s discuss your project with no obligation. **[Let’s discuss your project]** _[Let’s discuss your project]_ --- ## Related projects - **New Roots** - **Bamboo Office** _Discover our approach to Sustainable Design →_