The new building will house an 11-storey residential complex and will be characterized by an iconic charm combining the rigour of rationalism with contemporary expressive forms to give new light to the Milanese housing panorama.
The project introduces several measures to make the building energy-efficient with a view to reducing its environmental impact in an urban context, creating tools and paths for a sustainable residential neighbourhood: this solution is capable of harmonising commercial and construction needs in an ensemble of volumes and spaces characterised by system efficiency and by a sophisticated and elegant stylistic proposal.
Sure enough, the architectural project by Studio Marco Piva considerably reduces the volumetric weight of the buildings in the courtyard, as well as their building area, transforming the four pre- existing courtyards into one single central garden of high architectural and landscape quality, structured in such a way as to include some arboreal species, and thus appearing overall as a well- structured, rich and varied landscape solution.
The relation between urban and private greenery is very important in the design phase, creating visual continuity between the tree-lined avenue, the large courtyard and the green front of the inner edge of the plot of land concerned. The attention to the landscape and urban greenery is also reflected in the terraces and rooftop garden on the top floor: an architectural choice involving an alternation of large terraces that emphasise the lightness of the building and give impetus to the composition, also evoking a wonderful and traditional characteristic of historical Milanese houses.
The main façade has been designed with a ventilated wall covered in stoneware, and will reduce energy requirements by up to 30% compared to other building systems, while the entire building will be highly energy-efficient with low energy consumption levels: the combination of groundwater condensed heat pumps with the set of photovoltaic panels installed on the building's roof will cover 65% of the expected needs for heating, cooling and domestic hot water production of the entire building through the generation of energy from renewable sources.
Inside the building, radiant panels will exploit the available areas without impacting on furniture and partitions, and will thus also contribute to significant energy saving. As regards the lighting system, both outdoor and in common areas, energy-saving light sources such as LEDs will be used, providing for automatic regulation systems (hourly/natural light) on the external wall, which will manage such sources to limit the use of artificial light when not necessary.
As regards the choice of furniture, relevance has been given to the use of materials, to the sustainability of the production process and to the possibility of recycling the product after use, in order to reduce as much as possible the impact on available resources and on the territory. The companies selected to this end are at the forefront of research and innovation and have certifications regarding the quality and sustainability of their products.