Coima to redevelop Milan asset into a sustainable office project
Coima yesterday announced plans to redevelop an existing 1950s building in Milan, which used to be part of a car factory, into an innovative, technologically advanced and highly sustainable new office project.
Designed by Milan-based architecture studio Piuarch, the project in Piazzale Zavattari 12, between San Siro and City Life, will see the building, which was part of the Isotta Fraschini car factory, redeveloped into an office building with arround 14,000 sq m across 12 floors, as well as 1,400 sq m of panoramic terraces and multifunctional and retail spaces.
“This redevelopment is aligned with the value-add strategy of Coima’s Odyssey Fund, which aims to revive and reuse buildings to create new customer-focused assets with modern amenities and the highest sustainability standards,” said Matteo Ravà, head of fund and asset management, Coima.
The area around Piazzale Zavattari is undergoing significant development and it is being transformed into one of Milan’s key new commercial neighbourhoods.
The office development, called Ivory, is being designed with a strong focus on wellbeing and sustainability, targeting LEED Gold, WELL Gold, and WiredScore Gold certifications. The project will also incorporate locally sourced and environmentally safe Cradle to Cradle certified materials and products based on circular economy strategies.
The project is being designed to massively improve the energy efficiency of the existing building. On completion, over 65% of its energy needs will be provided through on-site renewable sources, including a geothermal system for air conditioning and a photovoltaic system on the roof.
The building’s innovative ‘free cooling’ air conditioning system will use the difference in temperature between indoors and outdoors, without the need for electricity. Other sustainability features include a natural ventilation system to improve the air quality in the workspaces, measures to reduce waste-water consumption through reuse of water for irrigation purposes and the adoption of indoor/outdoor water efficiency strategies.
Piuarch’s design enlarges the existing structure through the addition of an external mesh of pillars, creating large balconies and terraces every two floors, which will function as open-air extensions of the offices. These culminate in the two large green terraces on the 8th and 10th floors. The loggias and terraces, thanks to their versatility, lend themselves to becoming workplaces but also creative and social spaces, as does the retail and food & beverage area on the ground floor, a space open to the street in which to create new connections and network.
“The design aims to reuse and revive this 1950s factory building, taking elements of the original project and integrating nature, community, workplaces and technology to create a distinctive and sustainable new office building”, said Gino Garbellini, Partner, Piuarch Studio. “This innovative next-generation office building will create a workspace that provides the very best office environment and also enhances the health and wellbeing of employees”.
In the last year Coima has completed re-furbishing and repurposing projects with an investment value of €400 million, and it committed to is developing further sustainable reuse projects comprising 140,000 sq m with an investment value of around €1 billion.
