domus technica - center for advanced training immerges design by iotti + pavarani architetti

CREDITI DEL PROGETTO

Domus Technica - Centro di Formazione Avanzata Immergas

Client: Immergas

Location: Brescello, Reggio Emilia, Italy

Architects: Iotti + Pavarani Architetti (Paolo Iotti, Marco Pavarani)

Structures: Studio Gasparini-Gualerzi-Teneggi (Sara Trussardi)

Services: Studio Termotecnici Associati (Marco Manghi)

Electrical: Tecnoprogetti (Ferruccio Mirandola)

Construction supervision (on behalf of the client): Guido Simonazzi

Contractors: Impref srl - Frignani srl (construction)

Facadesign (facades)

Claudio Bassoli srl (interior finishes)

Bacchi spa (external works)

Torreggiani & C. spa (thermo-mechanical systems)

Automazioni Bigliardi srl (electrical systems)

Eurostands spa (furnishings)

iGuzzini (lighting)

Floor area: 900 mq

Site area: 4.500 mq

Schedule: 2009 - design ; 2010 - construction

Photos:Roland Halbe

contact@rolandhalbe.de

PRESS RELEASE

The RENZO PIANO FOUNDATION has selected the winner of the first edition prize

reserved for Italian Architects under 40. The studio IOTTI + PAVARANI ARCHITETTI in

Reggio Emilia was awarded the first prize for their project Domus Technica. The award,

promoted by the Italian Association of Architecture and Criticism directed by Luigi

Prestinenza Puglisi, received more than seventy entries screened by a single juror:

Renzo Piano.

Reggio Emilia, June 28, 2011 – On the 10th of June, the Renzo Piano Foundation selected

the project Domus Technica: the new Immmergas Center for Advanced Training by Iotti +

Pavarani Architetti (www.iotti-pavarani.com) as the winner of the first edition of the prize,

promoted by the Italian Association of Architecture and Criticism (AIAC) and chaired by

Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi, which is awarded to up-and-coming architects under 40.

Approximately seventy applications from all over Italy were examined, and evaluated by a

single judge, who is one of the greatest professionals in the field: Renzo Piano.

At the awards ceremony, that took place in Genova at the Foundation’s headquarters, Renzo

Piano stated, “In order to understand how the idea for the award was conceived it is

necessary to step back a few months, when Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi came to find me in my

studio in Paris. We began talking; I have always appreciated the free spirited personality of

Luigi, and his cheerful informality. For many years we have shared an admiration for young

people, especially those that are architects. Young and architects, a winning combination. It

was because of this that we thought about establishing a prize intended for Italian architects

under 40 that have realized a project”.

Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi commented on the unique nature of the prize, in both the initial

selection of the twelve best projects (by a jury of young people chosen from those initially

arrived) and later in the selection of the winner (by Renzo Piano), based on their ability to

focus on the role of the younger generations in the profession, “A prize awarded directly by the

best Italian designer is a source of pride and satisfaction. I say satisfaction because the award

was given to the architects by a person and not a committee; pride because it was bestowed

to them by a renowned architect which can be helpful in the endless vicissitudes of the

profession”.

DOMUS TECHNICA PROJECT BY IOTTI + PAVARANI ARCHITECTS. Domus Technica,

the new Immmergas Center for Advanced Training for the Immergas Company was

completed in 2010 in the city of Brescello (Reggio Emilia). Immergas has extended its

research and production fields to new generation technologies in regards to the

exploitation of renewable resources (solar thermal, photovoltaic, and heat pumps). The

project was conceived as a “laboratory” containing teaching rooms and showrooms where

technicians and professionals are trained and updated in both the installation and

implementation of these technologies as well as emerging processes related to this type of

research.

The building is divided into two levels. The main one, on the ground floor, contains a spacious

atrium that opens to the surrounding landscape, four showrooms (dedicated to high power,

new technologies, solar power and photovoltaic systems) and a central technological

showroom (space dedicated to ‘energy storage’, set in the centre as the heart of the machine

“Domus Technica”). On the top level, a meeting hall opens towards a terrace; the “artificial

pag. 1

landscape” constructed with alternating paved surfaces, green surfaces and tilted glazed

surfaces that support the solar and photovoltaic panels.

The upper body of the building sits on a “heavy base” that roots it to the ground. It performs

like a translucent compact volume inspired by the industrial vocations of the region. At the

same time it tries to renew the area’s appearance by creating a more refined an evocative

image of what is considered a “technical place”. The effects of the facade, created by light and

weather conditions based on the time of day or the seasons, change the character of the Uglass

finish which appears to have a transparent and diaphanous nature at times or viceversa,

a solid and monochromatic nature at others. In the evenings, a lighting system is

powered entirely by the energy produced from the photovoltaic panels and transforms the

building into a body of light.

The building, designed as a “Class A” certified structure, is self-sufficient. The equipment

installed in the four ground floor showrooms produce, using various technologies, primary cold

and hot fluids that have been completely recovered, stored and reutilized to meet the energy

requirements of the building as well as those of the pre-existing office structure.

On May 24, 2011 Domus Technica has already been awarded the National Prize for

Architecture ANCE IN/ARCH IV edition as a work designed by young architects (under 40).

A recognition that, in the long tradition of IN/ARCH Prizes which was launched in 1962,

promotes “the value of the constructed structure as the convergence of multiple factors: from

the customer to the entrepreneur, the component manufacturer and finally the designer”.

THE FIRM: IOTTI + PAVARANI ARCHITETTI. The practice was founded in 2001 from the

professional partnership of Paolo Iotti and Marco Pavarani. It has had a high success rate in

architectural competitions, especially those that deal with the confrontation between

architecture and landscape. From the year 2000 to the present the firm’s efforts have been

rewarded with eleven first prizes, three second prizes, a third prize, and two honorable

mentions. The majority of the winning projects have already been built, whilst the remaining

ones are in diverse phases of the design process. Amongst these projects are the masterplan

for a residential and service complex of 20 hectares in Riga (Latvia), the masterplan for an

area of 60 hectares in Nuremberg (Germany), the plan for the residential neighborhood in

Ferrara (Italy), and the waterfront project of Selinunte (Italy). In 2004 they won the first prize in

a Europe-wide two phase competition for the new stadium in Siena; a project which was able

to merge the infrastructure of the sport’s complex with the picturesque and delicate landscape

of the Tuscan hills. The project was also recently awarded the MIPIM Architectural Review

Future Projects Award 2011, in their “Retail and Leisure” category. In 2003 the studio received

an honorable mention for their Peace and Freedom Monument in Correggio, Italy as part of the

prize Medaglia d'Oro all'Architettura Italiana (Golden Medal for Italian Architecture) by the

Triennale di Milano. In 2006 they were invited to participate in the 10. Architecture Biennale in

Venice in the La città Nuova. Italia-y-2026 exhibition curated by Franco Purini for the Italian

Pavilion. In 2011 they were awarded the National Prize in Architecture ANCE IN/ARCH IV

edition and the RENZO PIANO FOUNDATION AWARD for architects under 40 for their Domus

Technica Immergas project.

Domus technica - center for advanced training

Immergas has extended its research and production field to new generation technologies, related to renewable resources exploitation (like solar thermal, photovoltaic and heat pumps); the new Center for Advanced Train­ing contains teaching rooms and showrooms where technicians and professionals may be trained and updated on both implanting and installation technologies tied to productions based on renewable resources.

So the building’s outline is that of an “open laboratory”- a space in which one works and is received.

It is shaped to create a flexible and sophisticated machine, perfectly capable of operating alternately with all the different technologies : the edifice does infact produce all the energy for its own needs as well as contribut­ing excess energy to the existing office building thanks to the operation of the technology on display .

The building stands in alignment and continuity with the front entry of the existing offices, yet it features as an isolated and prismatic block.

The rising part of the building leans on a “heavy base” that roots it to the ground, performing like a translucent compact volume inspired by the industrial vocation of the region. At the same time it tries to redeem this area’s appearance by showing a refined and evocative image of “technical place”.

client: Immergas s.p.a.

Leader in Italy in the design and manufacture of gas boilers for domestic use, both in the sectors of traditional and condensing boilers, Immergas is an affirmed organization that is also appreciated on international mar­kets, in constant growth and continuous expansion towards new foreign scenarios.

The headquarters of Immergas in Brescello (RE) measures over 50,000 sq.m. and hosts more than 600 staff.

Innovation is part of the Immergas philosophy, a strategic lever that guides the birth of each new product (the range of Immergas products is in constant evolution to satisfy the requests of different markets)

Moreover , Immergas is not just a company of products, but it is actually an organization that believes in cus­tomer service as a strategy to gaining the trust of their target, ensuring a high level of satisfaction and winning over new markets. For this reason, Immergas has always placed a great deal of attention on all issues related to pre-sales and after-sales, creating special services with a high added value.

Immergas maintains an exclusive relationship with its installation technicians, who are constantly updated on the latest product developments by means of pre-sales training courses held at its locations.

relationship between client and architect

At a time of severe economic crisis Immergas decided to take a pro-active course, entering new markets and investing in new forms of energy production from renewable sources, technologies which can, in combination with gas boilers, improve the comfort of the home while at the same time reducing consumption and polluting emissions.

This then was the motive behind finding new, special-purpose premises, partly to use for the training and bringing up to date of technicians but also as a means of communicating the Company’s new ambit of research and production through a specific architectural message.

In its search for an innovative and experimental solution, Immergas thus decided to contact a firm of young architects it had not used before, who had demonstrated their ability to project the business’s core values onto the building design, centred on a new image of sustainable architecture.

The chairman and founding shareholder of Immergas, Renato Amadei, thus accepted an unconventional ar­chitectural proposal, trusting the architects skills and sensitivity while at the same time actively involving him­self in the design, ensuring that the building was a suitable working environment as well as a demonstration of principle, that it integrated with the existing offices and it was sufficiently visible from the street, emphasising his desire to adopt solutions which were highly efficient in energy terms but with maximum respect for the principles of environmental sustainability.

iotti + pavarani architetti profile

The Architectural practice “Iotti + Pavarani Architetti” was set up in 2001, arising from the professional partnership of Paolo Iotti and Marco Pavarani.

The practice is involved in work over a wide range of architectural scales (from design to landscaping) for both the public and private sectors.

Current design and construction projects are spread over a number of different sectors: museum, teaching, sporting, commercial, residential and landscaping.

The Practice is particularly involved in building rehab, urban renewal and landscaping, taking part in numerous competitions and workshops.

The design work which typifies the projects undertaken by our practice is aimed at the understanding and interpretation of the relations existing between building and landscape, a commitment which remains a constant, irrespective of the scale of the in­tervention or indeed, the subject matter of the individual project.

The ultimate goal is to identify a strategy involving planning, composition and materials, capable of introducing dense insertions into the landscape, successfully imparting new “energy” to the context in which we are working, “energy” which is consistent with the often unexpressed potential of the setting as a whole.

The practice has had a high success rate in architectural competitions, from 2000 to the present its efforts in this field have been rewareded with eleven first prizes, three second prizes, a third prize, two commendations; winning projects were then elaborated all in depth.

Among them, in 2004 they won the first prize in a Europe-wide competition in two phases, concerning a new stadium (holding some 20,000 spectators) and connected equipments and infrastructures, with a project able to insert such an important complex of sport infrastructure in the delicate and picturesque context of the Tuscany hills around Siena.

In 2003 they are the youngest architects rewarded with Special Mention for public spaces, within the Gold Medal for the Italian Architecture of the Triennale di Milano

In 2006 they are invited at the 10th Venice Biennale - International Architecture Exhibition: the project SLOW TOWN VEMA is inside the Italian Pavilion ( “La città nuova. Italiay2026”, curator Arch.Franco Purini).

In 2011 project for “New Siena Stadium” wins the Retail and Leisure category of the 2011 MIPIM Architectural Review Future Project Awards.

Projects and works of the firm have been widely published and exhibited internationally.

Iotti + Pavarani Architetti via emilia all’angelo 3 42100, reggio emilia, italy

tel.fax +39 0522 302775

studio@iotti-pavarani.com

www.iotti-pavarani.com

Source: iotti-pavarani

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