architect: it’s
location: Via Pettinengo 72 - Rome
year: 2018
In an industrial lot of around 5000 square meters, the project involves the transformation of a few existing buildings and the demolition and creation of new volumes destined to host start-up offices, innovative companies, and fab-lab. The urban layout, through the design of communal volumes and spaces, is designed to facilitate the meeting between the various users. It aims to feed the exchange dynamics that lie at the base of the project.
The true heart of the structure, a large covered piazza, displays the new innovations produced by HUB, as well as serving as a public meeting place at events and seminars. The first step in this urban regeneration operation, as seen in various phases, is the new building for It’s headquarters.
The building is not only the new offices for the Roman section of It’s and its subsidiary company Parallel Digital (a society specialised in BIM management), but a true HUB that will host different construction, mobility, infrastructure, and digital organisations in order to develop research projects.
The three-storey building is located in a former industrial area next to the Tiburtina station. It is at an altitude that is about 10 metres higher than the quota on Via di Portonaccio on which it faces. The area of the grounds is placed above a complex covered in tuffaceous limestone caves dating back to the nineteenth century that were used for refuge during the Second World War.
The creation of the building presented some issues, particularly related to laying the foundations of the building due to the interference of underground grottos.
The project was used as a case study by It’s both from a point of view of process management (full BIM) and for the use of the prefabrication. This made it possible to reduce construction time to just 6 months (including foundations in micropiles), and to control both the technical quality of the building and its costs. Thanks to the techniques used, the building reaches very high energy saving standards. The photovoltaic panels placed on the roof allows the building to reach its zero consumption target.
The structure is made of wood, and the bearing sections in Xlam were put up in just 4 weeks. The external coating is made of aluminium. A study of the façades made it possible to optimise the modularity of the panels and to insert variations on texture and size. This results in an aesthetic that is industrial and precious at the same time. The It’s Hub is a new landmark for a small portion of a city trying to construct its own post-industrial identity.
