Sport, city and architecture in dialogue

The project occupies the former Foro Boario marketplace, where a multifunctional complex has been created with a sports hall alongside retail and food outlets. Designed by Baldi Margheriti Associati, it meets the highest CONI requirements for a range of sports while also contributing to the vision of a “dynamic, green, smart city”. New cycle paths and pedestrian routes, together with improved traffic circulation, strengthen links to the riverfront and enhance the area as a whole. In addition to the main arena, the complex includes a training hall that can open towards the River Nera and, when required, serve as an event space for up to 5,500 people.

The architecture is organised as a series of clearly legible volumes, with each function immediately apparent. The main building appears as an opalescent cuboid wrapped in perforated metal, its surfaces shifting between dark grey and green. Polycarbonate infill panels create translucent effects that become more pronounced after dark when the building is illuminated. The glazed entrance hall has a particularly strong spatial presence: coloured solar-shading elements support a continuous glass canopy at the main entrance. Inside, large elliptical columns shape the space and carry the central stand, which is integrated into the building as a sculptural form. Its green finish gives the interior a distinctive identity and reinforces the expressive architectural language of the ensemble.

Schüco Italia was involved at an early stage in the planning of the envelope in order to coordinate the architectural and technical requirements from the outset. A defining feature of Palaterni is the interplay of colour, rhythm and spacing in the vertical solar-shading elements, which use extruded Schüco ALB aluminium blades measuring 50 x 250 mm. Their rhythmic arrangement gives the facade depth and dynamism, defines the building’s appearance and regulates solar gain.

This facade concept is realised through the full integration of the shading elements into the Schüco FWS 50 facade system, combining formal precision and technical performance in a single solution. Thermal expansion, as well as wind and snow loads, are absorbed by the system without compromising the performance of the building envelope. On the short elevations, where no solar-shading elements were required, the facade is complemented by outward-opening Schüco AWS 114 window systems. Schüco ADS 75 door systems were used for the entrances and emergency exits at ground-floor level, designed to withstand the heavy demands of a high-traffic building.