The former villa on Via della Rocca, once a private residence with stuccoed façades, is being stripped to its skeletal frame. Its roof and interior finishes have been removed, exposing parallel walls of raw concrete and exposed brick. This bare structure now serves as the framework for a new care home dedicated to people with mental health challenges. Architects have designed a generous corridor that links a sequence of independent studios, each intended as a private retreat within a communal setting. The plan balances the need for personal privacy with the therapeutic benefit of shared circulation.
Designing Therapeutic Space
By foregrounding simple geometry, the renovation reframes the villa from a symbol of exclusivity to a vessel of collective healing. The structural tension between privacy and community is resolved through a corridor wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs yet intimate enough to invite casual conversation. This approach reflects a broader cultural shift toward de‑institutionalising mental‑health care, favoring environments that nurture dignity rather than isolation.
Inside the hallway, the cool plaster dust settles on the floor, and the echo of footsteps creates a rhythm that steadies both staff and residents. A designer pauses at an exposed wall, hand hovering over a sketch, reconsidering the corridor's width before committing to the final measurement—a moment of hesitation that underscores the responsibility of shaping lived experience.
In one restrained passage, the space becomes a quiet canvas where light and shadow negotiate the terms of care.
It matters because the design directly influences therapeutic outcomes for people living with mental health challenges.
As the villa sheds its former grandeur, it gains a purpose that reverberates beyond its walls, suggesting that architecture can be a quiet catalyst for societal empathy.
The transformation invites us to see care as both a physical and cultural reconstruction.
