17_Ri.Abi.La | Lorenzo Facchini

NAME

Project title: Ri.Abi.La. (Riabilito, Abito, Lavoro)

Recommending party
The project has been submitted by: Arch. Lorenzo Facchini

LOCATION
Country: Italy

City: Milan

Address: Via Achille Feraboli 15, Milano

AUTHOR

Designer or design team architects:

Arch. Lorenzo Facchini
Arch. Matteo Martini
(progetto architettonico e DL generale)

DETAILS  

Plot Area: 3816mq

Gross Area: 1969 mq

Of which residential: 43%
Public/communal areas: 10 %
Facilities for the public: 35%
Business/trade: 9 %
Offices: 3 %

Number of residential units: 9
Typology of users: Families, Foreigners/immigrants, Temporary residents
Total building costs Euros: 2.800.000,00 €
Building Cost = Total Bulding Cost / Gross Area: 1.422,00 €
Floor area ratio = Gross Area / Plot Area: 0,52
Work started on date: Monday, 6th November 2017
Work completion date: Monday, 31st December 2018

OWNERSHIP 

Promoter: Via Libera Cooperativa Sociale Onlus
Allotment rule: list
Reduction cost percentage compared to the market value:
– assignement % –
– rent % –

ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY

Cost of construction max: About 10% less than the average market values.
Rental/sale cost compared to market price: Rent 88 €/sqm/year. Not for sale.

SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Rules of allocation: In the management of the project there are different assignment rules, such as: – assignment by ranking managed by the Promoter; – allocation through social services; – lists of assignment of the Municipality of Milan
Protection of fragile categories: The project is also intended in part for vulnerable users such as minors in protected communities, immigrants, single mothers, disabled people.
Involvement of inhabitants in the building process: The project, which includes housing and personal services (polyclinic, day care center for the disabled, micronid, work placement of fragile people, etc.) has been presented on several occasions to the community and municipality of the area with feedback collection then translated into a project.
Community accompaniment in the life of the building: The building is in some areas open to the public and the community. The commercial shops (bars / bistros, food products, hairdressers) are open daily to the community residing in the neighborhood. The building was selected in the Milan Open House 2019 event.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Functional mixitè: The functional mix is ​​the main and fundamental characteristic of the intervention in question. RI.ABI.LA. means Rehabilitation, dress, work which are the three main functions present together. Housing areas (families, temporary housing, housing for autonomy and a protected community for minors), Services and work placement also realized through the so-called “Botteghe” where fragile people work.
Common spaces and shared living: Some common areas are reserved and also designed for the interaction between the different subjects who live in the housing units, for social gatherings, lunches and parties. In addition, some are occasionally opened to the neighborhood. Finally, the shops are services open daily both to the neighborhood and, naturally, to the inhabitants of housing and other activities present in the complex.
Techniques and strategies for environmental saving: It is a restoration of the existing building heritage with expansion, which gives new functionality and life to a service that is being abandoned (former asylum). The total redevelopment envisages a building in line with the current legislation to contain energy consumption; casing, heat pump and renewable sources (photovoltaic and solar thermal panels) guaranteed the achievement of the A3 energy class.

Description of the project: 

Programme/functions
RI.ABI.LA. means “Riabilito (rehabilitation), Abito (living), Lavoro (work)” is the synthesis of the project of renovation of the old building known as “Vittoria” kindergarten. Promoted by a non-profit organization the new building is a multi-functional center for services to individuals, set in a green area of about 3800 square meters. Social-educational, welfare, health and residential activities coexist in the building as long as: kindergarten, social housing, housing for children with disabilities, ambulatory clinic, a center for training of professional activities for fragile people and a smaller building called “botteghe” (featuring a bar, a grocery and a hairdresser) for a total built area of about 2000 square meters.

Urban context/approach
RI.ABI.LA. represents a concrete example of urban redevelopment of a Milan peripheral area (enclosed between via dei Missaglia street/ and the Gratosoglio district), which creates a new sub-urban center of services and housing. His spaces are occasionally opened to the community as well, while the “botteghe” (little shops) are open daily for the neighborhood.

Design approach
The new building is a unitary complex, suitable for hosting the multiple activities of the center according to a design approach moved from openness, inclusion and dialogue with the neighborhood. The aim  that guided the design process was the challenge to design and to realize a state of coexistence, where diversity is seen as the richness and social glue of all the all the inhabitants and people involved.

Environmental sustainability
The total renovation of the existing building and the newly built portions have created a whole new building updated to the current legislation of low energy consumption: exterior walls,  floor heating/ cooling with heat pump system and the use of renewable energy (photovoltaic panels, solar heating panels, rainwater recovery) have ensured the achievement of the A3 energy class.

Economic sustainability
The project was also designed by reducing the construction costs by around 10% less than the average market of construction in order to make the promoter able to guarantee rents with preferential price, below the average prices in the city of Milan.

Social sustainability
The building is intended for the reception of vulnerable kind of people such as minors, immigrants, single mothers, disabled people. In several occasions the project has been presented by the promoter to the community and the neighborhood in order to collect feedbacks and suggestions then translated into the design process and construction phase as well.
The building was inaugurated in the spring of 2019 in the presence of the mayor of Milan, Beppe Sala and opened to the public for visits during the 2019 Open House Milano.