CHIANTI
Nestled in the Tuscan hills near Florence, Podere Santa Margherita is an historic Leopoldina farmhouse with annexes and an expansive park — a place shaped by centuries of history, layered cultural narratives and an intimate relationship with the surrounding landscape.
In this restoration project, complemented by a new swimming pool seamlessly integrated into the greenery, architecture becomes a tool for balance between human presence, nature and place.
The project emerges from a deep listening to the site: its geography, climate, culture, and the historical layers that have shaped it over time. Architecture does not impose itself; rather, it integrates with discretion, revealing the character of the place and amplifying its identity, restoring a truly unique residence.
Not an architecture that consumes, but one that gives back value — to the place, to people and to the environment.
The project transforms the estate from a closed system into an open, connected landscape: dense perimeter woodland protects the site, while water features and vegetation mitigate noise and frame views over vineyards and olive groves.
The design reinterprets traditional Tuscan agricultural patterns into a living landscape that invites immersion. Buildings follow bioclimatic principles to ensure comfort with minimal energy consumption, while a circular approach informs materials and procurement — natural, non-toxic, and selected for quality and traceability — creating an authentic balance between sustainability, craftsmanship, and sense of place.
Sense of Place & timeless experience
The villa interprets Tuscany not as an iconic image, but as a lived experience. Local materials, artisanal knowledge, vernacular proportions, and agricultural landscapes become part of an authentic narrative. Spaces are not merely rooms to inhabit, but places to be lived over time.
The experience of hospitality and living is grounded in the relationship between people, spaces, and landscape — in immersion within the slow rhythms of Tuscan life, in the balance between intimacy and conviviality, and in a concept of comfort understood as care rather than display.
Here, true luxury lies in space, light, air, silence, shade and the unfolding views across the hills. Architecture becomes an emotional experience and a vessel of memory, not merely a container.
Climate as a Resource, Nature as Design
The project prioritizes passive strategies — orientation, thermal mass, cross ventilation, and natural shading — to ensure high standards of comfort without reliance on complex systems, in full respect of the existing structures.
The historic “Colombaia” tower captures nocturnal north-eastern breezes and incorporates a passive evaporative cooling system. The greenhouse, attached to the Rustico and covered with photovoltaic panels, is a hybrid space comfortable in all seasons: sunlit and tempered in winter, cool and ventilated in summer thanks to large openings on both sides.
These bioclimatic devices enhance environmental performance, transforming efficiency into sensory quality and living comfort — a value that endures over time.
The language of space
Spaces are designed to foster connection, well-being and flexibility, with fluid environments that integrate indoors and outdoors, and a central living area opening onto the greenhouse and landscape.
The layout accommodates multiple families or guests, ensuring privacy in sleeping areas and offering differentiated solutions for diverse living needs. Comfort is achieved through bioclimatic strategies and passive systems, balancing functionality with spatial quality.
The project combines respect for the original structure, attention to detail, and natural materials, shaping a sustainable architecture deeply rooted in its context — where luxury is expressed through meaning, quality, and longevity.
Ground floor plant
First floor plant
Contemporary luxury is defined by authenticity, craftsmanship, respect for precious resources and cultural roots.
Location: Chianti
Year: Ongoing
Type: Residential / Hospitality
Client: Private
Status: Preliminary project
Architectural design and Sustainability: Weber Architects
Landscape Design: Erik Dhont Landscape Architects
Photo credit: Weber Architects, Chiara Giunti
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