The building known as “Palazzo Gulinelli”, owned by the “Opera Don Cipriano Canonici Mattei” foundation, used as a school until the seismic events of May 2012, presents a historical stratification that dates back from the 14th century to the 20th century. The current version is the result of modernization works carried out by Eng. Biondini starting in 1864, where Count Gulinelli wanted to modernize the old building using the innovative technologies of the time, such as the protoclimatization system for ventilation and heating of the building. The architectural restoration project started by trying to adapt the historic building to current regulations regarding both the removal of architectural barriers and plant engineering, without neglecting the artistic peculiarities of the place, thinking about possible future uses. In the rooms used for school accommodation and cultural space, facing Corso Ercole d’Este – Via Armari, the insertion of bathrooms was done respecting the spatiality of the rooms, through the insertion of minimal lowered volumes, to favor the reading of the historical volumetry of the rooms. On the ground floor facing the street and on the first noble floor facing the garden, the doors that had previously been closed were reopened to restore spatial and pathway continuity to the rooms. On the noble floor, the room to the north, which was used as a bathroom in its current state, is reconnected to the path of the noble floor by opening the original door, having the decorated ceiling. The external facades were restored by consolidating the decorative elements and plasters with stratigraphic samples to recover and restore the original color.

All design choices were guided by the sustainable restoration prescriptions contained in the GBC LEED Historic Building quality certification protocol. Adherence to this protocol, in addition to being the first used on a multifunctional building certified at the gold level in Italy, made it possible to certify the actual use of CAM in the design and construction process and to become a case study for other interventions to enhance historical heritage. From an economic point of view, the energy rehabilitation intervention led to an energy saving of over 30% compared to the existing state (building certified in energy class A), which translated into significant economic savings for energy procurement costs. Furthermore, the economic value that the recovered building is now able to generate must also be considered, given its new use as a guesthouse. From an environmental sustainability perspective, the intervention was conceived with two key concepts:

– reuse of existing materials where possible

– use of eco-sustainable natural materials

One example among all concerns the flooring: both on the ground floor and the noble floor, materials recovered from the second floor were used. On the ground floor and mezzanine on the north side, new cocciopesto and/or terracotta flooring was used, while for the Via Armari section, the ground floor flooring used is Lessina stone, light in color, while for the rebuilt part, wooden flooring was chosen.

Designers: Binario Lab, Christiano Ferrari, Marco Santangelo

Client: Opera Don Cipriano Canonici Mattei

Structural Engineer: Eugenio Artioli

Mechanical Systems Design: Ing. Riccardo Trevisan

Electrical Systems Design: Ing. Michele Provasi

Green Certification Consultant: Marco Mari

General Contractor: ATI imprese

Commissioning Authority: RINA Services s.p.a. – Ing. Claudia La Macchia

Photographer: Elena Romani

Quote: “We are happy to have successfully followed the path of an active environmentalism which so much concerns youth dreams for the future” -Mosinger Antonio Grandini, via Ingenio