Studio Andrew Trotter transforms 19th-century school into family home in Puglia, Italy

[Celerity]

https://www.dezeen.com/2023/03/02/studio-andrew-trotter-casolare-scarani-puglia/











Vaulted ceilings and earth-toned furnishings feature in this house in Puglia, which architecture practice Studio Andrew Trotter has converted from a 19th-century school. The home, named Casolare Scarani, transforms a girls' school dating back to 1883 that was abandoned in the 1960s. Through its renovation, Studio Andrew Trotter aims to bring life back to the structure while retaining its original character.









"Prior to the renovation, the school was totally abandoned, with plants growing inside, no doors, and falling plaster," studio manager Marcelo Martinez told Dezeen. "The house was beautiful, old, with so much character, and not too big," he continued. "We wanted to bring it back to life without destroying its essence."











Having discovered the building a few years before recommending it to its client, the studio was drawn to the abandoned school due to its unique qualities that resemble features of two traditional Puglian buildings – lamias and masserias. "In the countryside you usually find small lamias, which are stone sheds for the local landowners to store equipment; or very large masserias, where the affluent landowners would have once lived," said the studio. "It was quite unusual to come across a building that had the style of a masseria, but the size of a small villa."











Studio Andrew Trotter aimed to keep as many of the building's original features as possible, including its stone portico that has a vaulted ceiling and looks out onto the garden. "We tried as hard as possible to leave the exterior patina where we could," said the studio. "Together with the clients, we spent days scraping off years of flaky paint, to reveal the beautiful stone of the portico."

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