The utmost requirement of an artist and merchant couple was to design (from scratch ) a building that was both their downtown home and their shop-atelier, but these two parts although connected, should not interfere. The house area has been requested as a light and spacious space where to receive at any time of the day, with a more intimate space dedicated to the couple. In the shop-atelier, because of the size, the warehouse space and exposure area had to coexist. The lot is small, narrow and long, facing both on the street and the internal courtyard. The project idea was to play on volumes, creating two areas (divided by a strong and articulated support structure) and compositionally characterized in opposition: the living area, light (structurally and optically), bright and projected outward and the atelier, introverted, dark and characterized by strong materials.