EUR NEW CONGRESS CENTRE ROME, Italy 1998—ongoing
Client E.U.R. S.p.A.
Interior design Fuksas Design
Architects Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas
General Contractor Società Italiana per Condotte d’Acqua SpA Built Surface 55,000 sq. m. Engineering Plans: A. I. Engineering, Torino Structures: Studio Majowiecki; Studio Sarti Safety: Studio Sarti Acoustics XU – Acoustique, Paris
Strategically sited in Rome’s Fascist-built EUR residential and business district, the convention centre will have a built area of 55,000 sq.m. Essentially, the design concept centres on three images: the Display Case and the Cloud that form the convention centre, and the “blade” of the adjacent hotel. The steel-framed Display Case with a glass double-façade contains the Cloud, the heart of the project. Its imprisonment within the box-like Display Case underlines the contrast between amorphous space and geometrically defined shape. The Cloud contains a 1850-seat auditorium, catering venues and support services for the auditorium. The Cloud is, without doubt, the hallmark feature of the project, an amazing-looking steel-ribbed structure covered in 15,000 sq.m of transparent sheeting. The underground parking level will accommodate 600 cars. The adjacent 441-room hotel (the “blade”) is a free-standing autonomous structure. With its ground-breaking logistics and high-tech materials, the new Congress Centre will make a major architectural statement as well as being a highly flexible structure able to host congress and exhibition events for almost 9000 people at any one time, spread between the 1850-seat Cloud auditorium and the large conference rooms totalling 6500 seats. The centre is designed to be as energy-efficient as possible. VRF air-conditioning will provide high efficiency and low running costs by adjusting temperature and air-flow to the number of people actually present in the auditorium and individual rooms. Solar panels on the roof will supply renewable energy and protect the building from overheating by reducing solar radiation, as well as significantly reducing energy consumption compared with standard air-conditioning throughout the entire building.
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