The project area is located in the Vercelli municipality, southeast of its historical center and close to the Cervetto colatore, towards the Sesia river. The new social welfare complex faces Corso Magenta, freeing up as much as possible the green (and public) area behind it. The facility includes two buildings held together by a full-height glass central body. The design intention is to reduce the massive building mass not only by reducing the built surfaces but by arranging an adequate articulation between volumes, setbacks, and different facade treatments. In particular, the building on the right’s facade will be treated with vertical lines, the one on the left will have external window frames and both of them will have crowning “visors” in different colors. To better articulate the front on Corso Magenta, the building on the right has a setback on the first floor and a sort of central “tower” that acts as a pivot between the two main buildings. The midmost tower intends to recall the historical presence of various civic towers in the city of Vercelli which traces can still be found in the urban fabric. This architectural element has a “twist” that physically and metaphorically turns to the historic center in the direction of the town hall precisely to highlight this semantic relationship. The rotating “tower” is also useful for generating the necessary space for the disabled ramp for access to the building.

A further element of differentiation is constituted by some components and added metal bodies that will have different coloring. Each building also has a large central shaft that illuminates the distribution corridors.

The whole structure, for reasons of overflowing of the Cervetto canal, is located at about 40 cm above the street level of Corso Magenta. A “podium” courtyard opens up towards the canal slightly to the east and represents the main external space provided by the structure. This courtyard is placed at an altitude of about 1 meter above the external floor where some private parking lots of the new structure are located. The entire project area is therefore positioned on a plinth with variable height and is the system of paths, ramps, and green areas that helps to articulate the change in altitude.

The complex provides 120 places for nursing homes (Residenze Sanitaria Assistenziali. RSA), 20 places for Assisted living residences (RA) 10 for residential care hotels (Residenze Assistenziali Alberghiere. RAA)

Project team

Architectural project : Derossi Associati (arch. Davide and Paolo Derossi)

Structure: Ing Massimiliano Girino.

Installations: Ing Francesco Torsello.

2019

In progress