play spaces revitalize fluid 1960s home in italy by studio rossettini

studio rossettini updates existing strucTUre with spaces for play 

Studio Rossettini revitalizes House LB into a contemporary single-family residence with playful spaces that puts functionality and quality of life at its center. The home from the early 1960s in Padua, Italy, reimagines the existing structure through its renovation, freeing up the perimeter walls and creating a fluid sequence of spaces that flow between the kitchen, dining room, and living room, with furnishings integrated into architectural niches.

Without altering the original volume, the project respects the existing footprint, working through subtraction and reconstruction, with a new rational distribution and a tailored interior design. The design aims to create a neutral box that can be personalized by the client with artwork and furnishings, striving to maintain a good balance between formal clarity and a domestic atmosphere. The distribution is completely redesigned rationally, starting from the structural constraints of the existing structure.

front view of the house | all images by Andrea Ceriani

1960s home IN ITALY benefits from personalized renovation

Studio Rossettini takes a personalized approach to the renovation of the brutalist home. The architects keep the living area on the ground floor, extending from the entrance into the kitchen, dining room, and living room, separated by niches that integrate the furnishings. The walls separating the main spaces of the home are removed from the perimeter. This allows for the sequence of spaces to be interpreted right down to the last room and frees up circulation around the spaces while maintaining the intimacy of each space. The main facade remains sober and balanced, with contrasting volumes defining the home and garage, connected by a portico that in turn links the two portions of the garden. The south elevation, on the other hand, opens completely to the inner garden through large fixed windows that frame the outdoor green space.

view of the internal garden with porch

House LB prioritizes a minimalist aesthetic

Natural lighting is key, as is the minimalist palette of whites, blacks, and thoughtful natural wood inserts for furnishings, lighting, bathroom accessories, and the concrete flooring. Large southern openings frame the garden and draw natural light deep into the home, while a suspended reading net on the upper floor becomes a playful, unexpected moment that reveals the project’s domestic soul. Domestic warmth is ensured by the inclusion of artworks, distributed throughout the rooms as two twin solid blocks—one as a pedestal at the entrance, the other as the first mobile step of the staircase—the staircase handrail, and the porch skylight intrados. On the first floor, between the bedrooms, a retractable shelf leads to a suspended net, an intimate space designed for play and reading for the little ones.

the walls separating the main spaces of the home are removed

an outdoor kitchen adds more entertainment space

the double-height entrance to the house with a solid wooden block as a pedestal for a sculpture

the home maintains a balance between formal clarity and domestic atmosphere

the living area extends from the entrance into the kitchen, dining room, and living room

large fixed windows frame the outdoor green space

natural lighting is key, as is the minimalist palette

the suspended reading net on the upper floor becomes a playful and unexpected space

black is used for furnishings, lighting, and bathroom accessories

project info:

name: House LB
architects: Studio Rossettini Architettura | @studio_rossettini

location: Padua, Italy

photographer: Andrea Ceriani

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edited by: claire brodka | designboom