A cipher house where nothing is left to chance

M51 is a house shaped with meticulous care: nothing is left to chance. Every detail and every element, every glimpse and every view has been studied, researched and tested. The contemporaneity of the chosen materials and the architectural cuts both of the spaces flooded with natural light and the furnishings with simple but clear lines mixes with the twentieth-century elegance of the building and the neighborhood. M51 thus becomes the house-code that embodies the sense of architecture for Icon.

The view over the rooftops of Turin

The Icona studio has attempted to reconfigure a historic multi-storey building in the Porta Susa area to transform it into a comfortable and well-kept residence overlooking the rooftops of Turin.

The rooms on the top floor of the 1930s building, surrounded by notable examples of Turin Art Nouveau, have been completely transformed and remodeled, increasing their heights and transparency, in search of maximum natural light.

The apartment develops, as in an embrace, around a large panoramic terrace-pocket, separated from the interiors by a large glass wall. The heights have been made more generous thanks to a new laminated wood roof, covered with pigmented painted sheet metal slats, which fits perfectly into the original aesthetics of the period building.

Over twenty dormers embroider the perimeter of the residence

To obviate the umbratility of dark and deep spaces, a sequence of over twenty dormers embroider the perimeter of the residence: like telescopes of light projected outwards, each one is equipped with a small balcony, which conquers an additional portion of the panorama.

The dormers were aligned with the original openings of the building, allowing the new envelope to avoid any visual discontinuity with the body of the building.

The main tower, on the other hand, looks like an exclamation point on the horizon. It is a volumetric addition, covered with the same burnished metal cover, which stands out from the top of the building and is generated by the extrusion of the stairwell. The turret houses the bedroom but also becomes a privileged observation point on the Turin hills and the city.

The separation between the day and night areas was achieved by skilfully orienting the spaces. The living area is made up of a seamless alternation of kitchen, dining, living and terrace.

The whole was conceived in a holistic way, in search of radical flexibility. Convivial environments thus become the stage for a non-unique and non-definitive experience: the place of a fluid living, experienced with a different spirit and attitude.

Maximum customization of details

The maximum level of customization is associated with the composite articulation of the spaces. Almost all of the elements present in the house have been designed ad hoc, or modified and customized according to the housing project. Furniture, lamps, fabrics and accessories, windows and doors are all, in one way or another, altered and optimized based on the changes made by Icona's designers.

Meticulous attention, between balances and counterpoints

The sinusoidal staircase as a work of art

The connecting staircase between the main floor and the turret is a sculptural work imagined and designed by Icona in every aspect. Designed in carpentry, each step is different from the other and seems to be suspended in the air. All together they develop a slender sinusoid, wrapped in a white painted iron sheet parapet that gives lightness to the composition.