Renovation of an Art Nouveau house in Merano
Renovation of an Art Nouveau house in Merano recasts a historic house in Merano, Italy, by Christian Kapeller as a retreat set between a busy street and a quieter garden. Designed in 2024, the project keeps the protected façade intact while shifting the experience indoors, where a timber house-within-a-house and broad glazing reshape the mood from urban pressure to calm.
About Renovation of an Art Nouveau house in Merano
A busy road in Merano gives little away. Behind the restrained Art Nouveau façade, a once-dilapidated house holds its position on the street with unusual reserve, restored in line with heritage requirements and quietly sealed from the rush outside.
That first impression matters. The exterior remains self-contained and protective, with carefully restored double-glazed windows and a masonry presence that reads less as display than as filter.
Facing the street, the house stays inward-looking. Its historic shell takes on the practical role of buffer, holding back noise and movement while preserving the cadence of Merano’s established streetscape rather than competing with it.
The project’s key move begins at the threshold. Inside, the weight of the existing structure gives way to a house-within-a-house made of light-colored timber, introducing a softer, lighter register without erasing the old envelope.
This shift inward changes the whole reading of the home. What begins as a compact, protected street front opens gradually toward the garden, where large areas of glazing loosen the boundary between interior and exterior.
Light becomes the central agent here. In the open-plan living area, topped by a gallery, the interior takes on a different rhythm—less enclosed, more breathable, and clearly oriented toward the calmer side of the site.
The contrast is the project’s real subject. One side meets the city with restraint and permanence; the other turns toward privacy, daylight, and the slower atmosphere of the garden.
Rather than forcing a break between old and new, the renovation works through tension. The restored façade keeps faith with the building’s era, while the timber insertion and generous glazing introduce a more open domestic life within.
That balance gives the house its clarity. It remains a guardian of the street in front, yet behind that quiet face, the rooms move steadily toward light, release, and a more contemplative way of living.
Photography courtesy of Christian Kapeller
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