mineral textures shape gaëtan le penhuel & associates' sicily house

casa bendico blends into sicily’s olive groves

In Sicily’s Val di Noto, an agricultural landscape facing harsh heat and seismic shifts, Gaëtan Le Penhuel and Associates’ Casa Bendico offers a new approach to Mediterranean architecture that works with its climate. Regulations in this part of Sicily are minimal: homes must sit on at least one hectare of land and remain single-story, ensuring they do not visually dominate the countryside. This freedom has led some to perch houses on hilltops, chasing panoramic views. Casa Bendico, instead, maintains a low and unobtrusive profile, with its heavy, mineral facade blending with the warm tones of the expanses of the surrounding olive groves. As the house deviates from the generic white cubes that have come to define new construction in the region, it evokes the region’s traditional farmhouses, shaped by local artisans.

Rather than relying on imported materials and standardized solutions, the studio opted for a double-shell concrete structure, a technique that is rare in Mediterranean homes but essential in this climate. The outer shell absorbs and diffuses the heat of the Sicilian sun, while the inner shell maintains a steady temperature, reducing the need for artificial cooling and ensuring the house remains livable even in the peak of summer.

all images by Sergio Grazia

Gaëtan Le Penhuel and Associates shapes a bioclimatic house

With the program and materiality, a natural flow between indoors and outdoors is cultivated, including a thoughtful orchestration of how spaces are used across different times of day and seasons of the year. A shaded southeast terrace extends the living areas, offering protection from the summer sun while remaining open to the landscape, while a more intimate courtyard, connected to the bathrooms, houses an outdoor shower and drying area, embracing the Sicilian tradition of treating outdoor spaces as part of daily life. Even the swimming pool, a simple mineral basin, is set slightly apart from the house, creating a deliberate, subtle transition between architecture and nature.

Given that the region often faces earthquakes, extreme heat, and wildfires, Gaëtan Le Penhuel and Associates has realized Casa Bendico as a resilient bioclimatic shelter and an extension of its landscape. The French studio has also integrated passive climate control, with a thermal well system bringing cool underground air into the house, circulating it through cast-iron tubes to create a natural ventilation cycle. Ceiling fans and deep pergolas further regulate indoor temperatures, shading large glass openings while allowing breezes to pass through. Instead of air conditioning, the house also relies on solar panels for hot water, photovoltaic panels for electricity, and underfloor heating for the mild Sicilian winters, demonstrating how traditional wisdom and modern technology can work together to reduce energy dependence.

completed by Gaëtan Le Penhuel and Associates

From the inside out, Casa Bendico is defined by its material choices that respond to local building traditions and environmental needs. Low-carbon concrete mixed with pozzolana from Mount Etna gives the walls a rustic texture while improving insulation, and the board-formed concrete bears the imprint of handcrafted wooden molds, lending the structure a sense of depth and imperfection that mass-produced surfaces often lack.

Inside, Gaëtan Le Penhuel and Associates has left travertine stone from Lazio raw, used for built-in furniture that feels inseparable from the architecture itself. Creating a soft transition between light and shade, indoor and outdoor, intricately patterned sliding grilles taking cues from Arabic mashrabiyya screens that ensure both security and ventilation.

Casa Bendico blends into Sicily’s olive groves