Temporarily fitted with ash-wood panels and windows, the two houses’ openings can be filled with any kind of material or glazing, adding a sense of tentative experimentation and flexible modularity to the whole project. The building’s bleak and rough exterior is contrasted with the luxurious interiors, which were finished mainly in white plaster and refined materials. The top floor of each house is occupied by the master bedroom, complete with walk-in wardrobe, bathroom and private terrace. The rest of the living spaces are arranged irregularly around a main circulation core, creating the sense of traversing a stylised alpine cave.

The project’s most impressive feature however is the underground wellness area and its 15-meter marble-clad pool. Meant to be shared by the residents of the two houses, this spa area also boasts its own bathroom and showers, a sauna, a steam bath and room enough to set up large gym equipment and benches. Much like a faceted gem or a chunk of grey ice, the pool design further adds to the project’s cavernous scenography, all the while maintaining a direct connection to the outdoors through large openings that lead out onto the garden.