Restoration and new signs
The site includes, beyond exhibition and documentary areas, 12 separate activities on a 3,500 square meter covered surface, with a 200 linear meter façade that opens out onto an external pertinence area of more than 3 hectares.
The new spaces are realized with an iron anti-seismic structure. Most of the structure was pre-assembled at the factory for ease of installation and to achieve static independence and reversibility of different parts.
Environmental sustainability
The project optimizes thermal effects and natural lighting using insulated glass and low-energy, low-emission lighting, and continues the city’s architectural heritage where the use of structures is reinvented to accommodate contemporary Rome.
The importance given to the building’s thermal behavior and to passive strategies requires accurate indoor environment control, starting from the analysis of the orientation conditions. Studies for the protection of the glazed façade from direct solar radiation also included the analysis of aerodynamic flows, where air flow is induced from the frontal openings, in the shade zone, and from the north-oriented roof openings to provide cooling and air exchange.
The complex is equipped with seven thermo-mechanical independent power houses that use CFC-free coolants, heat pumps with COP >3, and UTA with dynamical recovery >70%. The complex has a solar photovoltaic system of 166 silicon panels with an output of 180 Wp peak power and 40,000 kW annual production – reducing CO2 emissions by some 25,000 kg annually.
Sustainability recognized
The project was recipient of the Premio Gubbio 2009 (ANCSA), Europa Nostra Award 2009 (Preservation and Restoration), Fassa International Award for Sustainable Architecture 2009 (Bortolo Special Mention), Romarchitettura Award 2007 (Building Renovation or Intervention), and the International Architecture Award 2006 (Innovative Architecture – Design and Sustainability).