Villa Nigra, Miasino (Italy)

Energy performance upgrading of a historical building, with installation of a concealed low-thickness radiant floor by Giacomini inside Villa Nigra.

Owned by the Commune of Miasino, Villa Nigra is one of the most renown historical residences of the Cusio area.

In the last few months, the structure underwent important restoration works both architectonic and functional to relaunch the complex as a cultural center and to house start-ups of the Lake of Orta.

The overall goal of the project is to revitalize the villa spaces by modernizing and making them more comfortable yet without altering the historical authenticity of its frescoes and large fireplaces. From this standpoint, architect Fabrizio Bianchetti identified the radiant floor system by Giacomini as the solution offering the greatest benefits for the energy upgrade of the ground floor: ideal levels of comfort and energy saving, possibility to exploit the system also in summer as an alternative to a HVAC system, total freedom for interior decoration, noiseless operation, and acoustic insulation.

The need to work in such an important historical context (the central part of Villa Nigra dates to the end of the XVI century) obviously called for special care when installing the system, which includes Spider Slim low-thickness panels by Giacomini, selected for its reduced thermal inertia and outstanding performance in terms of energy comfort and convenient installation.

The reduced height of the low-thickness system proved to be the perfect solution in such a delicate renovation project while guaranteeing an ideal and even heat distribution, short-time start up and limited thermal inertia in the upgraded spaces.