Yoga Center | Barbara Arciuolo

The restoration project of an apartment located in a nineteenth-century building in the historic center of Cuneo to convert it into a residence and a yoga center at once: this was the request of the client, in the ambitious attempt to combine the warmth of a home, where you can have a herbal tea, and a Yoga and meditation dedicated practice area. Restorative measures in order to bring back the Genius Loci, regenerating space, simplifying and emphasizing as much as possible the simplicity of the original conditions, removing the alterations made during the previous years
The design concept envisions some specific interventions aiming to reorganize the interior spaces in two main yoga rooms and a kitchen area. Two small bathrooms were demolished, making room for a new bathroom and a small entrance hall with custom furniture.
The entrance is dominated by wooden benches, made of local oak specially designed to fulfill the needs of customers (a place to put the shoes), and an “orange cube”, the bathroom, the visual heart of accommodation, reconsidered with a plasterboard ceiling lower than the main vault ceiling, in order to emphasize a visual continuity broadening the environment.
The unique and special atmosphere you breathe as you enter is the result of a bond between the effect of the “rustic” wood, the grain of the plaster based on natural lime, the bright and enchanting and cleverly combined Indian style objects. A multilayered solid teak flooring, warm color and reflections with gradient cognac, with a particular finish rusticata creates an original surface and ideal for those who are constantly in contact with the floor as for yoga practitioners. The vaults with end pavilion dominate the scene and surround environments, while the natural and artificial light enhance the surface finish, with small imperfections exist, making visual material and hot environments, antique flavor, embellishing the intervention . The color uniform and continuous envelops the space, dominated by only small hints of vibrant color. The space balanced, minimalist structure, is enhanced by a choice of lighting points in plaster walls, the same color of the walls, as well as the many niches, reused by the client to contain objects of everyday life and for professional use, have been closed flush with the wall and then painted as the walls, emphasizing the distinctive element of the project: the balance between seniority and modernity. Outside, a gallery century was enlivened by vessels in corten specifically designed to cover the descents of rain Monthly: with the passage of time the vines of honeysuckle flowers white and orange create a fifth green visible from the stairs condo, to plunge by now in a state of mental stillness required for the practice. Moreover hosta, rhododendron, hydrangea, holly, red maple and seasonal flowers were chosen to have a garden green and iridescent throughout the year. Photo by Francesco Marinone