ALBERTANI CORPORATES ENGAGED IN THE REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT BY RENZO PIANO OF THE FORMER MICHELIN AREA IN TRENTO
The project exploits all the peculiar features of the location, while observing its natural features and landscapes. Considering the expanse and the quantity of constructions at play, the project lends itself to an approach that inserts it harmoniously in its surroundings.
For this reason, a centralised energy system is envisaged to optimise resources and reduce running costs with a single power plant for the entire complex, located on the right bank of the Adige river outside the complex itself, which distributes and harvests energy from each plot thanks to an underground piping line along the North-South axis. This network will have a single delivery point in the underground floor of each constructed plot. The system makes it possible to concentrate the machinery and plants and to limit emissions and optimise costs, while reducing the environmental impact. A special focus was placed on saving energy in terms of insulation and heat dispersion control. Another key issue of the project lies in the presence of water in the park, with the aim of bringing Trento closer to its river. Hence a system of canals has been introduced in the project, which crosses the area from North to South together with two large waterways where the public buildings are situated (museum and auditorium).
Water therefore plays multiple roles, from play and recreation, to technology, with open-air tanks that act as storage basins for water reserves to be used for irrigation, fire-fighting or lamination of cooling waters before they are introduced back into the Adige river, to culture, with scientific themed study routes tied to the Science Museum distributed along the canals. The public greenery represents the third major theme of this project.
The connective system, which consists of rows of trees that make up the skeleton of the project along the East-West routes, becomes a unifying transversal element of the three main players of this project: the existing city, the new district and the riverside park. In addition to forest plants, along the roads and trails, the greenery also consists of mid-height trees, to form woods with thicker shaded areas and monumental tree specimens, including some which already existed in the area. The latter two types of trees are planted in a lawn that spreads from the front of the buildings up to Via Sanseverino and beyond up to the river, and from Palazzo delle Albere up to Via Monte Baldo. It is a large accessorised lawn, to be used entirely for open-air activities, whether recreational or relaxing, where the only decorative feature will be the blooming seeds mixed with a strong grass lawn, cut at different heights.
There are essentially two types of buildings. In line, along the railway axis, providing non-residential functions, acoustically protected by spot-on technological façade choices on the Eastern side which in themselves form a barrier against the noise from the railway, for the remainder of the district which extends out towards the park. Courtyard buildings, distinguished by different "cuts" which allow observers to catch a glimpse of the communal internal gardens from the street, providing mainly residential functions. One of the distinguishing features which unifies the entire project lies in the roofing system. By favouring the use of wood and steel, albeit in different functions, heights and tilt angles, they form a single semantic system that spans the entire built area. Photovoltaic panels are installed on the sloping and flat roofing. To guarantee a balanced development of the area consistently with the remainder of the city fabric, the project envisages the settlement in the area of various functions, namely: commercial premises, residences, tertiary services and recreational areas. Different intended uses are in fact given to the buildings with several storeys, according to a horizontal stratification which is characteristics of every historic city. The new district will appear lively, inhabited and frequented at any time of day, full of stimulating opportunities from an inhabitant, working, social, recreational and cultural perspective.
Commercial premises
The commercial premises are distributed for the most part of the ground floor of the buildings, with the exception of some residential volumes near the park, which will house dwellings with private gardens on the ground floor. These continuous glass fronts are arranged along the axis that connects the two "poles": the museum in the North and the meeting and conference centre in the South, along internal pedestrian paths and along the curved axis crossed by the canal that connects the two waterways.
The residential buildings are located in blocks C, D, F (in the Western portion), G and I. As mentioned earlier, the ground floors of these buildings are dedicated to commercial premises, except in the Western portion of block D, where the ground floor also has a residential role since these buildings overlook the park directly. For these types of apartments, a strip of private gardens is envisaged as a transition element with the public greenery. Generally, the residential buildings have two views, one overlooking the public street (or sometimes the park) and the other on private communal green areas inside the courtyards which can be crossed, creating alternative routes to reach the park through the houses and communal green areas.
The apartments on the third floor are often duplex facilities with a mezzanine floor under the ridge cap roof, which also grants access to large terraces. The tertiary service is essentially distributed in the buildings that flank the railway line. This choice allows for the better management of the technological design of the Eastern façade, i.e. the one most exposed to acoustic insulation problems, enabling solutions that would not be very appropriate for a residential function.
