European Transition Accademy

AESS

Italy

The new AESS headquarters in Modena is conceived as an expansion of the existing building and as a public space dedicated to training, dialogue, and the promotion of a culture focused on ecological transition. The project interprets the Agency's role as an active local stakeholder, translating its mission into an open, accessible architecture that is deeply integrated with the urban and landscape context of the Torrazzi Park.

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Client

AESS – Agenzia per l’Energia e lo Sviluppo Sostenibile

Typology

Public Architecture | Space for Training and Ecological Transition

Location

Modena, Italy

Services

Preliminary design, final draft design, execution design, construction site management, health and safety coordination (design and execution phases).

Year

On going

Team

Giulio Rimini, Michela Luppi, Andrea Carrozzi.

Credits

Architectural Design: Archilinea S.r.l.

Structural Design: Studio Capellari Associati

Electrical Systems Engineering: Pampuri S.r.l. - Ing. Andrea Talami

Hydraulic Systems Engineeringi: Ing. Yos Zorzi

Construction Site Supervision: Ing. Giulio Rimini

Geological Consultancy: Dott. Geologo Valeriano Franchi

General Contractor: Ingegneria Emiliana

Suppliers: Daku Italia S.r.l.

Concept

The project is based on the idea of a contemporary plaza—covered yet permeable—capable of connecting the city, nature, and knowledge. The architecture blends into its surroundings, reducing visual impact and returning a vast, usable green surface to the community by transforming the roof into a garden rooftop linked with the park.

The new headquarters functions as a civic agorà dedicated to sustainability, where built and natural spaces merge without barriers. Principles of bio-architecture and bioclimatic design guide every choice, making the building itself an educational tool and a permanent case study on climate adaptation and urban resilience.

A civic infrastructure

The new AESS headquarters is designed as a civic infrastructure promoting the ecological transition. On the ground floor, public functions face the park and the city directly, eliminating physical and symbolic boundaries between professionals and citizens. The covered plazas host workshops, conferences, laboratories, and training activities for technicians, administrators, and professionals—a space designed for temporary events that remains informally accessible to park users.

The central courtyard acts as a green agorà, a relational space equipped with urban furniture. The architectural envelope integrates solar shading and greenery, while rainwater management and the use of low thermal-absorption materials contribute to urban comfort and the mitigation of climate change effects. Architecture thus becomes an active part of the AESS message: a place where space, function, and content coincide in respect for the environment.

PROJECT

The intervention is developed as an extension adjacent to the current AESS headquarters and is organized into two independent covered plazas connected by a central courtyard. The semi-underground structure is topped by a sloped green roof accessible directly from the Torrazzi Park, which serves as a second public, non-built level. The spaces are flexible and reconfigurable, designed to host training activities, events, and meetings open to the city. (Construction Site Box) The project places particular emphasis on reducing environmental impact, adopting integrated construction solutions: a reinforced concrete and prefabricated structure with steel elements and a green roof. The site management is streamlined and construction phases are optimized, ensuring the building integrates harmoniously into the landscape while remaining adaptable over time, in line with the ecological transition.

SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION

The project integrates building and landscape as an infrastructure for the ecological transition, adopting bioclimatic solutions such as green surfaces and reflective materials for climate mitigation and microclimate improvement. The intensive green roof and sustainable rainwater management systems—rain gardens, permeable surfaces, and lamination—reduce the heat island effect, run-off, and flooding risks, fostering biodiversity. The intervention serves as a laboratory and a replicable model of best practices, consistent with the mission of the Ecological Transition Academy: a consistent example of how to design and manage resilient public spaces.

APPROACH

The project interprets architecture as a tool for social and cultural activation. Archilinea adopts an integrated approach, where environmental sustainability, spatial quality, and public value are inextricably linked. Every design choice is driven by the desire to transform the building into an accessible and shared experience, capable of communicating ecological transition themes through the built environment.