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In Milland, Brixen (South Tyrol, Italy), bergmeisterwolf turns a 300‑year‑old stone outbuilding on a private garden plot into a compact retreat—old masonry kept, a thin aluminum roof lifted off the walls, and one pink OSB insert handling the daily tasks.
This is a former chicken coop in the Milland district of Brixen (Italy), reworked by bergmeisterwolf (Gerd Bergmeister and Michaela Wolf) into a 23‑square‑meter, one‑room place to read, sleep, and cook. You arrive from the garden along a black‑pigmented concrete stair that extends the boundary wall and doubles as a seat. The roof is new—untreated aluminum, folded and set just off the stone so a slim line of light traces the perimeter and air can move. Outside, a circular concrete pad makes a small landing in the grass. Most of the original shell stays as found: repaired stone, tuned openings, and the old red window and door frames left in place. Even the green rain gutter is a deliberate, easy‑to‑spot note.
Inside, one element does a lot of work. A pink‑painted OSB insert runs along the room and changes role as it goes—bed platform, storage, kitchen, bath—so the floor stays open and the stone walls remain visible on all sides. Thick masonry evens out temperature; the lifted roof keeps glare off surfaces while pulling a soft band of daylight around the edge. You feel the building through small, everyday moments: cool stone at your back when you lean, the warm OSB edge under your palm when you set down a book, the low tap of rain on aluminum at night. Nothing shouts. A few precise moves make a small room calm and useful, with the old structure still doing what it always did.
Photo credits: Photography by Gustav Willeit.
