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Financial Consultant’s Live/Work is Green, Crisp and Cool

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Situated overlooking Switzerland’s Lake Lugano, this subtle, sleek and sophisticated residence and office offer a financial consultant and her family the security of heating with renewable energy.

The edgy and green design is by Milan-born Jacopo Mascheroni who, before before returning home and founding JMArchitecture, worked in New York City for Richard Meier (who we’ve covered previously: Are Cool Roofs Cool Yet?)

The sleek unusual curved glass pavilion is the upper floor, comprising the public spaces. Under it the remaining house is a reinforced concrete structure dug into the mountain on one side, but open to the views out to Lake Lugano on the other.

The kitchen is able to double as an office kitchen for enjoying a coffee with clients at the top of the house, with its simple and clean lines.

Upstairs has a little excitement and glitz with the curvy glass which echoes the perimeter wall. Peaking in the 1950s, the tiny town perched on a hillside overlooking Switzerland’s Lake Lugano has become a tourism spot. Almost half the houses are vacation homes.

The living room frames the quietly glamorous views of the lake and the charming historic village of Brusino Arsizio, that was first settled in Roman times.

But the family rooms on the ground floor below, are brisk and efficient.

As you reach the bedrooms on the ground floor, partly carved out of the mountain on one side, the space opens up to views to a private garden on the other side.

The stairs back up from the family area of the financial consultant’s home are as clearcut and straightforward as numbers.

Oval skylights seen on the deck here shoot daylight down into the bathrooms downstairs. The house has geothermal heating and all of the glass is filled with Argon gas, that insulates the home from the chilly Swiss mountain winters.

Photographed here with a light dusting of snow, the “ground” is also actually a green roof planted with ground cover that also serves to insulate the family rooms beneath.

The numbers add up for green living here!