ACPV wins contract to design office and hotel spaces as part of Italy’s largest urban regeneration project
15th April, 2021 – International architecture and interior design practice Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel (ACPV) has been awarded the design of an office building and a hotel as part of MilanoSesto, the most important urban regeneration project in Italy and one of Europe’s key developments. ACPV’s project will be part of "Unione Zero", the first private development parcel of the former Falck area in Sesto San Giovanni. Construction will begin in the second half of 2021.
ACPV will be in charge of the design of the office spaces and a 250-room hotel, based on a model of development that focuses on people and their needs. The intervention is part of the 1.5-million-sqm MilanoSesto masterplan by Foster + Partners, and will become the gateway to the newly regenerated urban area. The "Unione Zero" parcel – covering 250,000 sqm above and below ground – enjoys a strategic position, with its close proximity to the new Sesto San Giovanni railway station and the underground line that connects the area with the center of Milan in fifteen minutes. The development will rise next to the City of Health and Research – the new health center of the Lombardy Region.
"We are delighted to have been selected to participate in the largest urban regeneration project in Italy," says Patricia Viel, architect and co-founder of Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel. "ACPV’s office building and hotel will become the gateway to the masterplan in its very first phase of development. This project demonstrates the firm’s continued commitment to designs that focus on sustainability and social wellbeing.”
The ACPV project, characterized by the use of BIM technology, embeds environmental sustainability and energy efficiency at its core, in terms of building performance and adherence to LEED, WELL and Cradle to Cradle standards. The design of the hotel and office buildings favors the use of innovative materials that reinforce circular economy principles, and fosters dialogue between public and private spaces.
Along with Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel, international studios Barreca & La Varra, Park Associati, and Scandurra Studio Architettura were selected to create the seven buildings of “Unione Zero”. The selection process was coordinated by co-investor and development manager Hines
"We are very satisfied with the outcome of the selection that saw the participation of some of the most distinguished Italian and international architecture firms," says Mario Abbadessa, Senior Managing Director & Country Head of Hines Italy. "The choice of four outstanding firms from Italy is an important sign for our country. I am convinced that, even if each studio brings its own style and approach, their combination will result in a synergistic project in line with the Foster + Partners design scheme. The challenge will be to innovate and bring the area into the future through a modern and contemporary proposal while preserving the memory of the industrial site with a great history and enhancing it in terms of sustainability and integration with the territory."
This project represents ACPV's ongoing involvement in innovative urban regeneration projects. Recent works include the masterplan of the Symbiosis business district for Covivio, south of Milan’s Porta Romana area; the San Babila Business Center for Goldman Sachs in Milan; and the restyling of Enel's historic headquarters in Viale Regina Margherita in Rome.
Note to editors
Hines is strategic advisor and development manager for the entire MilanoSesto project, and investor for the first private development parcel “Unione Zero”; MilanoSesto S.p.A. is the owner of the areas; Prelios Group is the project manager of the initiative.
ABOUT ANTONIO CITTERIO PATRICIA VIEL (ACPV)
Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel (ACPV) is an international and cross-disciplinary firm headquartered in Milan, Italy, founded by architects Antonio Citterio and Patricia Viel, in 2000. With some activities dating back to the Seventies, the firm is currently involved in several international projects, embracing different scales of intervention – from master planning to mixed-use developments, to residential and commercial buildings, corporate headquarters and hotels – in collaboration with a qualified network of specialist consultants. The firm can rely on a staff of more than 130 people, coordinated by eight partners. Recent projects include luxury hotels in Europe, China and the Middle East, NOVE – an office building in Munich (Germany) – a residential condominium in Miami (US), Nexxt–Fastweb’s new HQ in Milan, and La Bella Vita high-rise in Taichung (Taiwan).
ABOUT MILANOSESTO
MilanoSesto, the largest urban regeneration project in Italy and one of the most ambitious in Europe, will transform an area of more than 1.5 million square meters, where the Falck Steelworks of Sesto San Giovanni once stood, into an efficient, sustainable and inclusive urban center. The masterplan designed by international architecture studio Foster + Partners foresees progressive development over the next few years with landscaping, residential areas, new squares, retail and office spaces and, above all, places designed to connect people. Located in a strategic position north-east of Milan, the area is well connected to the surrounding communities thanks to the new Sesto San Giovanni railway station to be built by June 2023, the subway station and the major trunk roads providing rapid access to the city center, the tollways and the rest of Lombardy.
The development project comprises a unique mix of functions, including innovative housing based on accessibility criteria, special services for the individual and an intergenerational scheme of student housing, multifamily residences for professionals and young families, and senior housing. The area will also include a 45 hectare park, an extensive green “lung” for the entire Milanese metropolitan area, integrated with the historic industrial buildings. As a result, MilanoSesto will be a new urban center able to accommodate more than 50,000 residents, city users and visitors on a daily basis. It will also be the site of the Health & Research District, a major public complex of clinical and scientific excellence comprising the new sites of the Besta neurological institute and the National Tumor Institute.
MilanoSesto offers the opportunity for a new ethical development model that takes people and their needs as its starting point to create an open, inclusive community and a constantly evolving portion of the city meeting the interests of future generations. At the same time, the project will recover the important industrial archeology of the former Falck steelworks, which will be converted into new social and wellbeing spaces as an integral part of the area restored to the community.
Milanosesto S.p.A., the owner of the areas, and the implementing body and the contract awarder, works in partnership with Hines and Prelios, two leading real estate players recognized for their experience, reliability and transparency in relations with all stakeholders.
