“Building citadel”

• public building
• teaching

Como, Italy
2010
competition

The 'Citadel of Building’ is to become a new urban reference point for the neighbourhood.
The complex is made of a sequence of parallelepipeds arranged perpendicularly to the main street. The volumes, combined and stacked, define a pedestrian square through which one can access the school and the joint bodies offices.
Classrooms and gym face an internal stepped courtyard, which serve as the school common meeting point, while the spaces for practical activities are connected to the open-air workshop area.
The offices for the joint bodies are located on two levels of a cantilevered volume, characterised by a double-height beam-wall on the square side, which supports the slab.
This façade, facing southeast, is shaded by automatic micro-perforated textile screen, which ensure a greenhouse effect for the double-height space.
The project deals with sustainability issues in a global perspective, aiming to complex characterised by a high social, economical and environmental value.

client: ANCE COMO
architectural design: Quattroassociati
gross floor area: 5.950 sqm