VILLE URBANE

The town houses in the Varesine-Porta Nuova district in Milan offer a modern interpretation of traditional Milan homes, thanks to  the presence of wide open spaces in the form of terraces and roof gardens surrounded by stone enclosures reminiscent of typical dry walls in a rural landscape.

Inside, the buildings were designed by redefining the standards of quality town houses, and giving future users maximum flexibility in terms of customisation. In planimetric terms, the view on all sides of the houses and the open-plan layout provide considerable flexibility. From outside, an enclosure wall blends the complex harmoniously with the compact block reducing the perception of an individual house arrangement and creating an almost continuous roadside front.  

Starching was appointed to implement the detailed design for blocks 8 and 9, which involved the completion of the two unfinished building shells and their fixtures and fittings. The blocks are split into 7 flats on 4 floors and 10 flats on 5 floors respectively, all above ground, and were designed by the architecture firm M2P Associati. 

The floor space in the flats in both buildings was reconsidered to meet the requirements of a wider target market, given the business strategy to put these homes on the rental market.

The creation of new floor area was offset by removing a front wall to obtain the optimal distribution of the total area and create the conditions to meet the requirements of the rental market. The amended flat sizes required design strategies to reduce the impact of reconfiguring the measurements. Some of the flooring support solutions were redesigned in conjunction with the company and consultants, in order to meet industry requirements on maintaining the height of ceilings and window and door frames established previously.

Building Information Modelling transformed the construction to develop the detailed design, making work phases more efficient and facilitating reviews and adaptations. On completion of the model, an analysis of the systems implemented on the construction was carried out to verify and eliminate potential interference and guarantee the correct implementation of subsequent site phases. While managing the project, essential knowledge was shared with the construction company in order to meet site communication requirements regarding the approval of materials, constructions, and minutes for project status meetings. Managing the work for the shell and core structure of both buildings required the creation of a link between the shell and the fit-out, by retrieving significant information from the previous process.