Villa GI: Where Memory Meets Contemporary Design
A 1960s family home in Sondrio has been transformed into a contemporary residence where original memories, raw materials and seamless architectural details come together.
Set above the Valtellina landscape, with sweeping views across Sondrio towards the mountains of Valmalenco, Villa GI is a renovation shaped as much by memory as by architecture.
Completed in 2025, the project was designed by architect Davide Moroni, who also owns the property. Once the home of his grandparents, the 1960s villa carried a strong personal history. The challenge was therefore not simply to modernise the building, but to create a new home without losing its connection to the past.
Reimagining a Family Home
The original interior was substantially stripped back and reorganised across two floors.
At the heart of the new layout is an expansive open-plan living level where the entrance, lounge, dining area and kitchen flow naturally into one another. Upstairs, the atmosphere becomes more intimate, with lower corridors opening into bedrooms with increased ceiling heights.
Throughout the house, Moroni deliberately retained elements belonging to his family.
A late nineteenth-century sofa greets visitors at the entrance, while the living space includes a family piano and original 1970s stereo system. His grandmother’s trunk and other pieces from the former house have also been incorporated into the new interior.
Instead of being treated as decoration, these objects became reference points around which the architecture was designed.
Colour Creates Architecture
The entrance establishes the character of the house before the main living area is even revealed.
Finished in a deep petrol blue, it is conceived almost as a box within the building – a distinct architectural volume that defines the transition into the open-plan interior.
The colour appears again elsewhere in the house, creating a visual thread between different spaces.
One of these is a striking petrol-blue cube positioned within the living area. Despite its sculptural appearance, the volume serves a practical purpose: it contains a guest WC.
And it is here that ECLISSE becomes part of the architecture.
A Door Designed to Disappear
Access to the guest WC is through a full-height ECLISSE Syntesis Line Hinged door.
With no visible architraves or traditional door frame, the flush-to-wall system allows the door to become part of the blue architectural volume rather than interrupting it.
The installation was designed without an upper transom, allowing the vertical wall surface to continue uninterrupted to the ceiling. The result is a door that does not appear to have been added to the architecture; it becomes part of it.
Inside, microcement finishes and bespoke furniture designed by Moroni continue the same restrained approach.
Elsewhere in Villa GI, flush-to-wall ECLISSE solutions are used to maintain this visual simplicity, concealing service spaces and providing discreet access to areas including the walk-in wardrobe.
ECLISSE Syntesis Areo also allows functional spaces to be integrated discreetly into the surrounding architecture, helping storage and service areas remain accessible without introducing unnecessary visual interruption.
Raw Structure, Refined Details
The wider interior balances this precision with the raw character of the original building.
Existing concrete columns and beams have been deliberately left exposed, celebrating their texture instead of hiding them. A double-sided fireplace divides the lounge from the kitchen and dining space without creating a conventional wall, maintaining views and a sense of connection throughout the floor.
The kitchen follows the same principle. A large central island relates directly to the dining table, while five windows along the south-facing wall mirror the rhythm of those on the opposite side of the living room.
Rather than creating separate rooms, the architecture uses volumes, materials and carefully placed elements to define different functions.
The Staircase as a Focal Point
The staircase has been transformed into another architectural feature.
Described as a “cube within a cube”, it begins with a suspended, backlit first step. Existing walls and suspended ceilings around the original staircase were removed to increase the sense of height and openness.
Exposed concrete is combined with timber and metal slats, which create a visual screen without enclosing the staircase or restricting light.
Upstairs, the material palette becomes warmer and more intimate. Dark oak flooring is paired with bleached fir ceilings with visible knots, providing a softer contrast to the concrete and mineral finishes below.
Full-height doors continue throughout this level, preserving clean wall surfaces and removing unnecessary frames and detailing.
Designed for Contemporary Living
Behind the architectural transformation is a substantial upgrade to the performance of the property.
Villa GI incorporates mechanical ventilation, air conditioning and dehumidification, underfloor heating and home automation. An 8 kW photovoltaic installation with battery storage supports the property alongside an electric vehicle charging point.
The building envelope has also been significantly upgraded with external and roof insulation and triple-glazed windows.
The result is a home where architectural quality, energy performance and everyday comfort have been considered together.
Preserving the Past Without Recreating It
Villa GI does not attempt to reproduce the house that existed before it.
Instead, Davide Moroni has created a contemporary home in which the history of the building and his family remains present – through furniture, objects, structure and memory.
Against this backdrop, ECLISSE flush-to-wall solutions help remove unnecessary visual detail. Doors and access panels become part of the architecture, allowing colour, material, proportion and the story of the house itself to take centre stage.
Project: Villa GI
Architect: Davide Moroni
Location: Sondrio, Italy
Project: Residential renovation
Completed: 2025
ECLISSE products: Syntesis Line Hinged, Syntesis Areo
Photography: Enrico Dal Zotto