The restoration of the Santa Marta building in Verona is an outstanding project awarded a Gold Medal at the Architettura Italiana 2015 awards. It was presented to Architect Massimo Carmassi, who was in charge of its conversion into a university campus, combining the large-scale recovery of its existing structures and spaces with innovative contemporary design.
STEAM was commissioned to support the famous architect and to put its ideological concepts into practice also in terms of plant engineering. In the first instance, STEAM undertook detailed analysis to understand what could be recovered of existing systems. The conclusion was that the change in use that the project envisaged for those spaces, requiring higher quality levels than the existing ones and compliance with current plant engineering regulations that prescribe restrictions and innovative features, did not permit the re-use of the existing systems.
Furthermore, right from the outset, the project always focused on the need to reduce energy consumption. The building has a modern geothermal system for using renewable energy sources in order to produce hot and cold thermal fluid for heating and cooling systems, with a total output of about 550kW. In general, the systems were delocalised to produce energy and grouped together in an exclusive technological centre in the middle of the Silo.
- Location: Verona
- Client: ISP Iuav Studi e progetti srl - Venezia
- Years: 2005 - 2008
- Steam activities: Sketch and detailed design. Supervision of works
