Project
Vittorio Grassi Architects
Client
Italian Ministry of Defense
Period
2010 Design Competition First Stage
2011 Design Competition Second Stage
2011 Preliminary Design
2014 Schematic Design
2015 Detail Design
2017 Environmental Impact Assessment
Result
1st prize
Gross Floor Area
64,000 sqm
Site Area
180,000 sqm
Structural Design
F&M Engineering Spa
Environmental Design
Buro Happold Ltd
The project includes 720 new apartments distributed across 21 modular buildings set within a new park, configuring itself as an intervention in contemporary large-scale residential architecture. The masterplan creates a new neighborhood integrated into a broader urban settlement with similar functions, developed through careful territorial planning carried out by a specialized urban planning firm.
The connectivity plan features a large public square with restaurants and shops serving the complex and its residents. A nursery school, a primary school, several dining facilities around the park, and an area currently used as a shooting range—planned to become a sports center for the community—are also included, contributing to the quality of collective spaces typical of contemporary public housing developments. This modern “Agora” is conceived as a multi-scale meeting place for both neighborhood residents and those from surrounding areas, increasing the symbolic and social value of a space dedicated to interaction and exchange.
The construction of the new city represents an opportunity to create a residential complex capable of promoting a socially sustainable lifestyle, through the use of efficient and innovative technologies for harnessing renewable resources, in line with the principles of sustainability in architecture. The design concept of all new buildings is inspired by the passive house model, using proper orientation, shading systems, high-performance building envelopes, and natural ventilation, making each eco-friendly building one of the most advanced examples of sustainable architecture. The intervention also integrates principles of bioarchitecture, with solutions that reduce energy consumption and enhance living comfort.
Technological solutions for renewable energy are a key feature of the project: the complex includes three energy centers, each operating with heat pumps connected to a geothermal system beneath the building area. Photovoltaic roofs, combined with the heat pumps, supply the total energy demand without the use of gas, reinforcing the project’s identity as a model sustainable neighborhood designed to meet high-quality standards often associated with award-winning architecture.
