Basements

Corso Como Place, Milano

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Corso Como Place represents the new frontier of smart building: a building model that combines energy efficiency and environmental sustainability with a new experience for users and an evolved concept of living well-being.

What makes the project even more special is that it starts from the renovation of a building from the 1960s.

The Pirellino, as it was called by the Milanesi, stands in the center of the new Milan of Gae Aulenti Square, Corso Como, Eataly and the Feltrinelli Foundation & Microsoft House.

An iconic and very central place, which has stimulated a revolutionary project.

Corso Como Place is a complete redevelopment project, symbol of an architectural and urban planning path that creates beauty without destroying the existing one, starting from the enhancement of the Tower designed by Francesco Diomede, Giuseppe and Carlo Rusconi Clerici, converted to modernity in the sign of innovation.

At its foot stands a Podium that draws an open square directly connected to Corso Como and the Porta Nuova district.

The environmental sustainability of the buildings is guaranteed by the Nearly Zero Energy Building international standard.

The photovoltaic system chosen for the structures, the use of geothermal energy, which covers over 65% of the annual requirement, and the high-performance facades with automatic solar shading devices, allow very high energy performance and maximum reduction of CO2 emissions.

Furthermore, the choice of the Drytech Tank for the hypogeum ensured the impermeability of the underground structure not only to water, but also to radon.

A smartphone application allows everyone to customize their work environment, by intervening on lighting, temperature and shading.

Underground parking can be booked in real time based on the availability of free parking spaces and the IoT sensors (the Internet of Things) will monitor the noise level of the offices and the quality of the air, to ensure comfort and well-being for users.

With a role as a hub for green mobility paths and green areas, as well as a driving force for the redevelopment of the area, Corso Como Place represents a beautiful example of how architecture and construction technology can transfer a historic building into the future.

Asset & Development Management: COIMA, Milano

General Contractor: ICM, Vicenza

Project: PLP Architecture International, Londra

Structure: CEAS, Milano

Construction: ICM, Vicenza

Drytech Tank: 4,500 m²

Gioia Garden, Milan

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Architect Diego Fumagalli designed the Gioia Garden residences starting from the classic Milanese palace.

More than a dialogue, a hug. Architect Diego Fumagalli designed the Gioia Garden 1 and 2 residences starting from the stylistic features of the classic Milanese palace with which they border.

He created an architectural continuity made up of citations and references, which harmonizes the relationship between the two buildings, enhancing their formal differences.

Starting from this connection, the buildings in via Melchiorre Gioia 177/179 develop their own architectural identity, fitting perfectly into the context.

At the point of contact between the two buildings, the height of the volumes was respected and, in Gioia Garden 1 and 2, the string courses of the residential levels are barely mentioned, to conceal the slight differences in the height of the floors compared to the historic building.

Once continuity with the existing one has been established, the architecture of the new building unfolds all its character: with the articulation of the facade through the volumes of the terraces and the deep recesses of the winter gardens; with the hanging gardens dotting the building at different levels; with the three additional floors, progressively set back from the main facade.

The tallest volume itself contains a further reference, taking up the horizontal shutters that characterize nineteenth-century architecture.

Due to the presence of the aquifer and the proximity to the Naviglio della Martesana, all the underground structures, including garages, were built with a 2,753 m2 Drytech Tank.

Project: Architect Diego Fumagalli, Milan

Structure: STG engineering, Milan

Construction: Domus Service CO, Milan

Drytech Tank: 2,753 m2

School, Bedano

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A classroom of the Bedano Elementary School designed by the architect Vezzoli

There is an additional emotional involvement in designing and building a school. There is a sense of future that invests us with further responsibility.

There is the evocative power of memories: the first day of school and then all the other first times at school that determined what we would become.

Architect Vezzoli designed a structure composed of two perpendicular bodies: one dedicated to classrooms and service spaces and the other to the gym, with a gallery for the public.

The corner between the two bodies forms a space characterized by a large lawn, delimited on the third side by the steps of a grandstand that emerges from the greenery, creating a continuum with the surrounding nature.
It is the contemporary and organic version of the school courtyard, perfectly inserted into the context of the hill on the slopes of which the school complex stands.

Set in the profile of the slope, the building is partly underground and was built with the Drytech Tank.
On the ground floor of the main building there is space for the management, administrative offices, the canteen for around 60 students, the after-school club and the large entrance hall with access to the gym.

On the two upper floors there are the classrooms, set up to encourage maximum flexibility in the organization of the class, depending on the different activities.

Project: Architect Egidio Vezzoli, Bedano

Structure: K.ing Civil Engineering, Agno

Construction: Giovanni Quadri, Cadempino

Drytech Tank: 2,500 m2

CPC Gym, Chiasso

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The CPC double gym in Chiasso is the victory of lightness over weight, interaction over separation, flexibility over rigidity.

The duality between the podium and the covering volume of the room is defined by a detachment, produced by a punctual support on all four sides.

Through this suspension, the monolithic volume appears very light, to the point of seeming to be held back – rather than supported – by the four lateral Vs.

The detachment connects the interior space with the urban and natural elements that surround the gym. An interaction that places it in the context of the school and cultural campus, weaving various relationships with the peculiar elements of the place.

The building reacts to different situations and topographical differences. To the north it has an access terrace, in relation to the school buildings and access from the public car park. To the south, a flight of steps in relation to the small garden.

A delimitation of the road field and the existing square to the east. Finally, it is at the same level as the m.a.x Museum and the Spazio Officina, sharing their public vocation.

The podium is a Drytech tank. The insulation of the internal facades is protected by an exposed wooden strip in the lower part and by an acoustic paneling in the upper part.

From an energy point of view, the building meets the criteria of the Minergie standard.

Client: Canton Ticino logistics section

Project: Architetti Nicola Baserga e Christian Mozzetti, Muralto

Structure: Ingegneri Andrea e Eugenio Pedrazzini, Lugano

Construction: Mafledil, Osogna

Drytech Tank: 2’128 m²

Alpine Lodge & SPA, Campra

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L'Alpin & SPA Lodge, progettato da Durisch+Nolli

Since 2019 Campra, the legendary Val di Blenio x-cross center with its 30 km of slopes, has been enriched with a welcoming and modern Alpine Lodge & Spa, with spectacular views of the woods and mountains.

Designed by the architects Durisch+Nolli around the main theme of valorising the context, the new building enhances the essence of the place, generating a natural interaction with the surrounding landscape.

The natural difference in height of the land is taken up by a concrete plinth which contains all the services and infrastructures functional to the various athletes.

The wooden accommodation structure rests on this concrete element, which on the ground floor houses the reception, the bar, the kitchens, a bright self-service restaurant, an elegant gourmet restaurant and a welcoming lounge bar.

The head of the building is strengthened in its expression by an additional floor entirely dedicated to the SPA: a wellness center with sauna, Turkish bath, hydromassage tub and relaxation area, offers a bright self-service restaurant, an elegant gourmet restaurant and a welcoming lounge Cafe.

The structure also has a versatile, bright multi-purpose room designed to accommodate different types of events, from private parties and aperitifs to conferences and meetings.

Property: Campra Alpine Lodge & Spa, Campra

Project: Durisch+Nolli Architetti, Massagno

Structure: Reali and Guscetti Studio d’Ingegneria, Quinto

Construction: Ennio Ferrari Company, Lodrino

Drytech Tank: 2,850 m2

Cedrus Mansions, Minusio

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One of the swimming pools of the Cedrus residence overlooking Lake Maggiore

The Cedrus residential complex, in Brione sopra Minusio, offers one of the rare opportunities to purchase an exclusive home with a breathtaking view of Lake Maggiore, in the mildest point of the Swiss coast.

Perfectly integrated with the natural environment and the surrounding urban fabric, at the same time it guarantees the luxury of having everything within the property. The world in one house.

Framed between the mountains around Brione and the Lake Maggiore, Cedrus is surrounded by a forest that acts as a green backdrop and crossed by a natural stream.

In addition to all the basements, the elegant wellness area, the SPA, and the outdoor infinity pool in the lounge area were also created with Drytech Tank structural waterproofing.

Project: Architect Giuseppe Quartarone, Manno

Structure: Engineer Andreotti and Partners, Airolo

Construction: GTL, Gravesano

Drytech Tank: 4’430 m2

Swiss Life neighborhood, Massagno

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Aerial view of the Swiss-Life park district of Massagno

The Remo Leuzinger Architecture Studio has designed the park-neighborhood Swiss Life with an important urban planning role.

The Swiss Life housing complex forms an archipelago that defines and enhances the view onto Via Lepori, consolidating the character of the urban axis of the artery and, at the same time, opens pedestrian passages that make an important part of the park accessible to the public.

The three articulated volumes of different heights integrate with the original valuable trees, proposing an image of buildings in the park. The irregular pentagonal plan of the main bodies overcomes the rigor of right angles, giving organicity to the volumes and fluidity to the orientation of the facades.

Each unit corresponds to a “Hortus conclusus”. Built with woven chestnut slat panels and galvanized iron wire, these nest-gardens reproduce the quiet and intimacy of a cloister, inside the park-neighborhood Swiss Life.

Client: Swiss Life AG

Project: Remo Leuzinger Architect, Lugano

Landscape Architect: Officina del Paesaggio, Lugano

Structure: Afry Engineering, Arbedo-Castione

Construction: Barella, Chiasso – Implenia, Bioggio

Drytech Tank: 590 m2

Mantegazza Palace, Lugano

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Drytech Tank system for the 5 floors of the underground car park of Palazzo Mantegazza, 15 meters from the lake, in the presence of a water table of 18.80 meters.

The basement was built in underlay, using the hanging formwork technique: after the completion of the diaphragm walls, the slab of the ground level is cast, leaving openings through which it is possible to dig up to the level of the slab -1.

Then the formwork already used for the zero slab is lowered and, once it has reached level -1, the new slab is cast on it. And so on up to the bed, at level -5.

The walls of the Drytech Tank are made directly against the diaphragm, obtaining both the lining and the wall itself in a single casting.

Project: Camponovo Architetti & Associati, Breganzona

Structure: Studio Ingg. Mantegazza e Cattaneo, Sorengo

Construction: Garzoni SA, Lugano

Drytech Tank: 6’600 m²

Bella residence, Locarno

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With the Residenza Bella, Locarno has a new landmark that characterizes one of the main entrances to the city.

With the Residenza Bella Locarno has a new landmark that characterizes one of the main entrances to the city.

The facades punctuated by the grid of windows, the entrances created in the corners cut at the base, the suggestive stone of the facades which interacts vibrantly with the solar arch, the dynamic and surprising shape of the profile: everything contributes to the powerful originality of this residential and commercial building, designed by architects Filippo Floriani and Marco Strozzi.

But only by reaching the south side does one discover that it has an extra façade.
In fact, part of the roof is actually a series of semi-covered terraces interspersed with green pools. The tops of the plants emerge from the profile of the pitch, giving organicity to the structure.

Designed around the needs of those who live there, Residenza Bella of Locarno relies on careful construction, the choice of materials and the advantages of home automation for excellent energy performance, which also allows the management costs of the individual apartments to be contained.

The parking spaces are equipped with charging stations for latest generation electric cars and the Drytech Tank underground structure also guarantees impermeability to radon, for an architecture that manages to combine beauty, character and living well-being.

Project: Floriani and Strozzi Architetti, Paradiso

Structure: Jelmoni Engineering, Ascona

Construction: Promeng Company, Lugano

Drytech Tank: 1’070 m2

Municipal House, Cadempino

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Architectural detail of the loggia of the Municipal House of Cadempino

The new Municipal House of Cadempino is the seat of the city administration, but it is also many other things for the citizens. It is first of all a square, or an agora: in the Hellenic sense the main place of democracy, heart of the polis and seat of the assemblies.

This large open space, which from an architectural point of view communicates with the volumes, enhancing them through the contrast between empty and full, from an urban planning point of view acts as a catalyst and multiplier of meeting opportunities, both organized and spontaneous.

The square is also an arena: the steps that define the west side host the public for en plein air shows or events. The hope is that it will also be colonized and chosen as a wall by the kids of the town, but these are imponderable dynamics on which architecture can affect up to a certain point.

The space is delimited to the north by the large multi-purpose room and to the east by the municipal warehouse, while the main building, just set back, characterizes the square with a spectacular loggia that lightens its volume, and on which Lorenzo’s mobile sculpture vibrates Change.

The basement houses two car parks with charging stations for electric cars.

The entrance to the Municipal House of Cadempino is created in a deep setback compared to the main facade, which also in this case the void gives lightness to the structure.

The three levels of the main building develop around a tree that grows in a winter garden created in the center of the structure.

Vital fulcrum of the building, visible from each level at a different height, the cork oak takes on an engaging symbolic value, in which democracy can be seen as a good to be cultivated with everyone’s contribution.

Project: Antonio e Luca Antorini Architetti, Porza

Structure 1: Ing. Alessio Casanova, Pazzallo

Structure 2: Ing. De Bernardis, Massagno

Construction: CSC, Lugano – Giovanni Quadri, Cadempino

Sculpture: Lorenzo Cambin, Sorengo

Drytech Tank: 3’190 m2