Working Group
Temporary association of professionals:
Prof. Architect Giuseppe Cristinelli (lead partner), Architect Dario Giuseppe Maso, Engineer Matteo Rigo – Studio Associato Vio (partners).
Description and Historical Background
The intervention concerns the extraordinary maintenance of twenty-one public housing units located in the historic center of Venice (districts of Cannaregio and Dorsoduro), as well as on the islands of Giudecca, Murano, Lido, and Malamocco.
These buildings were constructed in the 20th century. From a construction standpoint, they are generally characterized by load-bearing brick masonry walls and floors made of hollow-core concrete slabs or reinforced concrete slabs. The layouts correspond to typical public housing designs.
All the units are part of buildings with shared common areas; access to the apartments is always via a shared entrance hall or stairwell. Some units also have private outdoor spaces with exclusive access.
The buildings are mostly located in residential areas characterized by broad pedestrian walkways that are relatively less trafficked compared to more central parts of Venice. Waterway access is generally conveniently reachable.
Services Provided
Surveys; detailed and executive design, including systems engineering design (by Eng. M. Rigo); and health and safety coordination during the design phase (by Arch. D. G. Maso).
The Project
The objective of the intervention was to bring the twenty-one units into compliance with current housing standards, particularly regarding spatial layouts, room sizes, sanitary and hygiene requirements, bathrooms, and building systems.
Special attention was paid to how the spaces are experienced and used, especially in relation to essential privacy needs between different functional areas, which primarily implies a clear separation between living and sleeping areas. This was addressed in those apartments where the existing layout was inadequate, typically due to a substantial overlap between bathroom and kitchen/dining areas and/or undersized bathroom facilities.
Within the available budget, additional interventions were made where necessary to update finishes such as flooring, plasterwork, ceilings, doors, shutters, and windows.
Design Documents
General and specialized reports, technical reports, energy performance certificates, survey and project drawings at 1:50 scale, systems engineering plans, price lists, detailed cost estimates, special specifications, draft contract, health and safety plan with site layout, and maintenance plan.
Design Development Timeline
Final-executive design: 40 days.