An angular black volume sits atop a cork-clad ground floor to form Casa 9, a home that Italian studio LCA Architetti has added to a valley on the border between Italy and Switzerland.

Located within a hilly landscape near Lake Lugano, the house was designed to showcase non-traditional building materials and features a timber structure as well as metal and cork cladding.

In response to the landscape and surrounding houses, LCA Architetti designed the home to have a low-lying form, comprising a rectilinear cork-clad ground floor as well as a more angular upper level, which features a standing-seam metal roof and wall.

A cork-clad ground floor is topped with an angular black volume

"The cork recalls the old walls of the oldest houses, the metal reflects the dark green of the surrounding environment," the studio told Dezeen.

"The materials and colour palette of the house create a dialogue with the mountains surrounding the valley; colours blend in with the trees and rocks in the surrounding landscape."

A paved walkway runs along the front of the home's ground floor, which has a rectangular footprint designed to match the forms of the surrounding buildings.

The design was intended to showcase non-traditional building materials

Following a gentle slope, the path leads to the front entrance, which opens onto a kitchen centred around an island finished with reflective surfaces.

Beyond the kitchen, the ground floor opens into a double-height living and dining space. Topped with a pitched roof, the open space features timber panelling along the lower halves of the walls and is brightened by a white-painted ceiling.