39_Housing Sociale Casacrema+ | D2U Corrado Caruso

NAME

Project title:Housing Sociale Casacrema+

Recommending party
The project has been submitted by: Corrado Caruso

LOCATION
Country: Italy

City: Crema

Address: Località Sabbioni

AUTHOR
Designer or design team architects:
D2U – Design to Users
Prog. Architettonico: arch. Corrado Caruso con arch. Marco Mazzucchelli
Prog. Strutture: Studio Castiglioni
Prog. Impianti: Barana Engineering
Consulenza Energetica: Esco del Sole

DETAILS  

Plot Area:  14.400 sq.m.

Gross Area: 13.615 sq.m.

Of which residential:  52%
Public/communal areas: 34%
Facilities for the public: 10%
Business/trade: 4%
Offices: 0%

Number of residential units: 90
Typology of users: families
Total building costs Euros: 12.241.058,00 €
Building Cost = Total Bulding Cost / Gross Area: 899 €/sq.m.
Floor area ratio = Gross Area / Plot Area: 0,94
Work started on date:  Monday, 1st February 2010
Work completion date: Monday, 1st August 2011

OWNERSHIP 

Promoter: Fondazione Housing Sociale – Fondo Abitare Sociale “AS1”
Allotment rule: Rent control and pact for future sale
Reduction cost percentage compared to the market value:
– assignment: not indicated
– rent: 17%

Description of the project: 

One of the first pioneering social housing project built in Italy, CasaCrema+ (90 flats of 95, 75 and 65 sqm), has been promoted by Fondo Immobiliare Etico “Abitare Sociale 1”. With vicinage services and a nursery for 140 children for a total of 8.000 sqm of gross area, it has been designed and completed in 2011 by D2U for Polaris Investment Sgr who managed the operation and the contacts with the local authorities.

The project has been awarded with the EIRE 2011 Social Housing Award fot its best “time and construction costs”.

The project shows a possible architectural answer to the dichotomy between “social building” and “social living”. The building complex is made of three distinct building blocks: two residential blocks, 4 floors high, at the north and south end and a nursery building, 1 floor high, characterized by a non-practicable sloping green roof, linking the two residential blocks together with the central pedestrian and cyclable public square and giving continuity to the entire site. The 3 buildings have been set on the north-south axis in such a way to give the best possible solar orientation to the flats and view to the residents whose units have always a double side natural ventilation.

The public pedestrian “piazza” provide space for temporary events, shops, kiosks, bars and it’s the stage for the “urban games” of the youngest residents. Social interaction is supported by small markets, local fairs, parties and other moments of aggregation. Energy wise, residential buildings are very efficient having been certified in CENED Energy Class A+ with a primary energy need for heating of less than 6,9kWh/m2a. Typologically they support new contemporary ways and needs of living that have dramatically changed since the obsolete “italian popular housing” of the 60’s and 70’s. All flats at ground floor have been given a vegetable or private garden and those at the upper floors have generous covered loggias. Diversity in building elevations aims at people’s identification and appropriation of their own flat against extraneousness generated by monotony and repetitiveness.