Riva San Vitale Kilns

Enrico Sassi Architetto, ing. Giorgio Galfetti, restored 2013 - 2025

The project involves the reuse and restoration of existing historic buildings (old kilns +former drying room) and the construction of a new building (kiln house).The new kilnarea will be used to produce and fire artistic ceramics.Theformer drying room, which has been converted into a workshop, will be used tomanufacture ceramics that will be fired in the two gas kilns housed in the kiln house.One of the two kilns can be used to fire large pieces.

The renovation of the historic former drying room building involves the construction ofa new metal structure inside the existing building to consolidate the old walls, connectthe existing floors and support the new metal roof structure, which allows the original,extremely characteristic trusses to be removed and preserved.The new metal structure consists of uprights (half IPE240 profiles), lintels (HEB120) forthe floors and HEB140 profiles to form the trusses of the new roof.

The building has been enclosed with large double-glazed windows installed directly onthe supporting structure, This is a very special project. The result enhances the historicbuilding thanks to the slender uprights and the ‘natural oxidised’ (rusty) finish of all theprofiles. The entire metal construction (supporting structure, roofing, windows/sills) wasmade “by hand”, measuring everything on site and producing each individualcomponent to fit the irregularities of the historic buildin