19_Cattone | Cosio Valtellino

NAME

Project title: Edilizia residenziale pubblica a Cosio Valtellino

Recommending party
The project has been submitted by:

Marco Cattone

LOCATION

Country: Italia

City: Cosio Valtellino (SO)

Address: Via Torchio

AUTHOR

Designer or design team architects:

Marco Cattone

DETAILS  

Lot surface area: – m²

Total area of the project: – m²

Of which residential: 3448 m²
Public/communal areas: 242 m²
Facilities for the public: 668 m²
Business/trade: 184,32 m²
Offices: – m²

Number of residential units: 11
Typology of users: families

Construction costs (euro/square metre): 900 €/m²

Work started on date: 2005
Work completion date: 2008

OWNERSHIP 

Promoter: Comune di Cosio/Morbegno
Owner: ALER Provincia di Sondrio

Description of the project:

CONTEXT

The area in which the new building will be positioned represents the completion of a municipal project for the renovation of a building complex, inserting public services such as post office, bank, nursery school, conference hall, etc.

PROGRAMME

The objective of this design is the creation of six apartments for rent at subsidized rates, five for sale at controlled prices, a garden, and a car park open to the public.

DESIGN STRATEGY

The position of the building, further back with respect to the street front, and its shape, were determined by the current planning regulations at the municipality of Cosio. The line of Via Torchio is followed on the south side, while on the east side, the curving street shapes the façade of the building. We substantially agree with these decisions taken as part of the city plan, because the street structure of this part of the town has always been characteristic for compact, continuous façade lines. The east façade has a series of regularly-spaced windows, while the north and south fronts have fewer transparent surfaces, and are finished in smooth ashlar. The six apartments planned for social housing use are positioned on the three floors, with access from a passage that includes the vertical communication structures.
The apartments for sale at protected prices are located in the new building front along the historic Via Torchio. The building consists of a series of ashlar vertical walls, behind which are the entrances and balconies. The flats are arranged on two floors: on the ground floor, the kitchen, a bathroom and the living room, and on the floor above, a bathroom, a double room, and two single rooms.
The garage facilities on the basement floor are located below the building volumes, except for a section on the south side, where a green area open to the public is situated over the car-park facility.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

As this is an area in which there were previously a number of disused and degraded crafts workshops, we think that the environmental situation of the entire area could only be improved by the construction of the project.

ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Over the course of 30 years, ALER (social housing institute) will recover all the costs regarding the work for the rented apartments. The apartments to be sold are financed directly by their purchasers.

SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY
In both the categories of rented and owned accommodation, the apartments provide a response to the need for social housing units for the weakest and mid-range sectors of the population, who are unable to utilize the commercial market for rented or purchased accommodation. The operation also comprises the construction of a public car parking facility that will solve parking problems in this area, which has been refurbished and will acquire new functions.