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PONTECCHIO MARCONI BED & BIKE
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LOCATION
SASSO MARCONI, BO
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DESIGN
PROJECT MANAGER Arch. Valentina Ferreri
ARCHITECTURAL Eng. Marco Bettazzi
STRUCTURAL Eng. Marco Bettazzi
MEP Eng. William Bizzarri
GENERAL CONTRACTOR Roma Srl
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RATING SYSTEM
GBC HOME v2
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SERVICES
Support in achieving goals for GBC HOME v2 rating system and document review
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PHOTOGRAPHS
RCArchitetture
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YEARS
ongoing
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TAGS
#Bicycle #SustainableTourism #Sharing
#Regeneration #Funds #Inclusivity
Sasso Marconi is the first small town of the hilly area in the Apennine Mountains near Bologna. Totally surrounded by the nature (mountains and Reno river), it takes its name from Guglielmo Marconi, Nobel prize winner for physics and father of the radiotelegraph.
The Municipality has adhered to a competition for funds called "Rigenerazione Urbana 2021" according to the implementation of L.R. n.24/2017, which provides a funding line for projects that allow the renovation of building as part of a larger urban regeneration: in this context, the Bed & Bike "La Scuola" project is a building refurbishment meant to convert an old school building into a housing facility for slow and sustainable mobility. The project is located in an area crossed by the Ciclovia del Sole (Italian section of the Eurovelo 7 that connects North Cape to Malta) and the Via della Lana e della Seta (the path between Bologna and Prato along the ancient textile merchants' routes). In addition to the objective of urban regeneration, the Community (people and Municipality) wanted to promote a new development program of inclusivity through the creation of a bike laboratory within the building managed partly by fragile categories for the repair of the bicycles.
The school has a rectangular plan developed on three levels; the central body contains the old classrooms and a portion slightly protruding on the main front for the access by the interior staircase, while on the short sides two head appendices include the outbuildings. The main body has overall dimensions of about 28.60 x 10.40 m with masonry support structure and simple brick slabs, except for the ground floor and the staircase where the slabs are made with little vaults using brick and iron. The building has a basement floor, currently unallocated, which is accessed through the interior staircase of the entrance hall.
The building was abandoned for several years and it went through a state of progressive degradation. This project will have the following objectives for the urban development:
- seismic and static improvement of the structure;
- recovery of different parts like roof, external plasters, floors, ceilings, etc.;
- functionalization of the internal spaces while maintaining the original character;
- improving the usability of outdoor spaces;
- energy efficiency of the building to accommodate the Bed & Bike;
- community-oriented design of the project (also for fragile categories).
The restoration of the building, in order to leave its historical and architectural aspect almost unaltered, will be carried out on the basis of a conservative approach with reference to the opinion of competence issued by the Superintendence. As regards the interior spaces, the raised ground floor will be mainly used for the services offered by the Bed & Bike, including common areas such as a reception space, coworking spaces with computers, comfort and relax spaces for people and repair areas for bicycles (self and supported) like the small cycle-workshop for the bike maintenance. There will also be spaces reserved for the administration and accomodation of the employees next to the reception areas.
The bedrooms, with private toilets, will be located mainly on the first floor to ensure greater privacy (for a total of 34 places). Depending on the requirements, some rooms (such as a room on the main floor) are flexible and suitable for refreshment and coworking areas. The rooms are for 12, 6 or 4 people in various layouts according to the needs.