Acciaio Arte Architettura | English Version

The centre is reached up an impressive flight of stairs clad in Roman travertine stone. It is a two-storey construction in a very quiet and reserved elegant residential area,
The activities inside the club can be seen through the large windows, made using very strong steel profile frames from the Palladio® thermal break series, which given their narrow frames fit in very discreetly, but respond to the essential needs for security and are able to hold safety glass and give excellent sound insulation, certifying excellent comfort both inside and outside the Club.
The various rooms in the Club have different uses and different sound pressure levels are generated in them. The sound insulation project considered these features, and the levels of insulation differ according to the structure concerned (floors, walls, windows and doors) using different materials depending on the activities, with technological solutions that are normally used in sound recording studios.
An automatic galvanised steel door opens onto the reception, where the guests are welcomed from behind a long desk clad in travertine stone, stuccoed with matt resin. This area serves both the entrance hall and the M32 coffee lounge, where guests to the Club can relax and enjoy a snack or a drink.
After completing the reception check-in, there are two separate corridors which lead to the changing rooms, and after passing through the sound-proofed door the equipment hall is reached, which leads onto the area reserved for the pre- and post-training briefing for the trainers.
Incorporated in the space of the wood parallelepiped, the trainers’ office is adjacent to the kinesis room, which is fitted into the same wood surface, which opens outwards through a large six meter long glass wall, which frames a long, low bench that creates a smart tea-room.
The last hall is for the courses, and directly overlooks the hall area through a series of glass cabinets which alternate with an equal number of brick separators.
The outside of the equipment hall overlooks a large open air terrace, with luxuriant evergreen plants where members are able to relax during their training.
The entire project is based on style and elegance, with a limited number of different materials and colours, which emphasise the linear and minimalist style that characterises this exclusive, relaxing club in its entirety, where travertine stone, natural wood and laminate combined with a hi-tech lighting project all create a very warm and welcoming environment.

By Alice Acoleo

Project: arch. Luigi Bulgarelli – LabStudio – Ferrara
Soundproofing project: arch. Fabio Di Lauro e arch. Andrea Licciardello – Ifos- www.ifos.com – Roma
Hydro-thermo-mechanical project: Per.Ind. Piergiorgio Ceccarelli – Roma
Electrical system: Per.Ind. Stefano Crocoli – Bagnoregio (Viterbo)
Work and safety direction: Geom. Giacomo Prosperi – Geom. Francesco Cannella – Fontenuova (Roma)
Building site direction: Geom. Pierfederico Passeggio- Castelnuovo di Porto (Roma)
Art Director: Arch. Claudia Angeloni – Castelchiodato-Mentana (Roma)
Client: Immobil 32 Srl
Year of construction: Project and study: may 2008 – january 2010
Building site: may 2010- march 2011
Steel doors and windows: Sicher Srl (Roma)
Steel profiles: Palladio Spa
Location: Castelchiodato (RM)
Photos: Giulio Riotta

These are the words of Ron Arald, referring to the 70s.
Holon was no different from the other urban areas that had mushroomed out of the sand in the suburbs of Tel Aviv: uncontrolled development, but with the original dunes and typical flora and fauna.
An unusual location full of contradictions and life, which is somehow suspended between the past and a strong desire for the future, a cultural challenge for Tel Aviv, providing a positive drive to lay the foundations for a bridge between East and West.
An icon was needed for this meeting with the entire world: a stamp. And much more.
A training gym designed to stimulate creativity and explore new design principles, reinterpreting old ideas. But it is also a drive for the country’s industry to understand that Design is a fundamental part of research and development, not simply a question of making attractive product packaging.
The design for this symbol of rebirth and revival was entrusted to Ron Arald, who is the Israeli ambassador for creativity in the world.

“I took a piece of stiff, copper coloured cardboard, and after working with it for five minutes I had the small model of the museum I wanted. I told my colleagues “Let’s finish it, photograph it and then tell them to go to hell”.
Again Ron Arald in the winter of 2004, when he presented the new challenge to the group of twenty architects who work in his London office.
After five years, this is the new Holon Design Museum.
A design product on urban scale.
It is part of a cultural centre that already contains the National Comic Strip Museum, a theatre, a film library and public library. The distinctive feature of the museum are the winding and enveloping lines that accompany the visitor through the building, making it seem like a sculpture that expresses all the strength of its modern design, without neglecting any of the typical Israeli artistic traits.
The effect was achieved by making five undulating bands in Cor-ten steel, in different shades of red depending on the level of oxidation that was chosen, which are curved to mark the spaces and light, in total continuity between inside and outside to create a warm, embracing effect.
The research into the materials that were best suited for such extreme climatic and lighting conditions was entrusted to Milan Polytechnic, who chose Cor-ten steel, which is extremely rust resistant because of a compact, passivating patina it forms on the surface.
The construction is entirely Italian, as further affirmation of Arad’s twenty years of marriage with Italian design.
The museum extends over an area of 3,700 sq.m., and half of it is covered by the undulating structure which unites the open and semi-covered spaces.
Arad talks of hierarchy of outdoor spaces, which enable walking through a semi-covered courtyard beneath the building, with a variety of itineraries to choose from depending on the weather. Moreover, priority was given to studying the ease of the internal itineraries and the dialogue between the landscape, the architectural spaces, the work and the public.
The museum spreads horizontally through two main galleries, an internal courtyard of 360 sq.m., which can also be used for open air events, and a range of exhibition areas and educational itineraries.
The two galleries differ in both appearance and use.
The museum entrance is inside the structure, enabling climbing up to the Upper Gallery or down to the Lower Gallery.
The Upper Gallery is larger and in the open air, with excellent lighting. The Lower Gallery is reached down the curving stairway and is smaller and, despite the considerable height, is more intimate to use for exhibitions or other activities.
The Holon Design Museum, in line with current trends of museums designed by internationally famous architects – the Guggenheim in Bilbao and the Maxxi in Rome, to name just two – empties the exhibition “container” and becomes a work of art in itself.

By Chiara Centineo (”Acciaio Arte Architettura”n.45)
Project: Design Museum Holon
Location: Holon, Israele
Architects: Ron Arad Associates
Steel structure: Marzorati Ronchetti S.A.S., Cantù (CO)
Photos: Courtesy Marzorati Ronchetti

In this particular case, the client expressly requested steel frame windows, made from seamless welding tubular steel with crushproof glass that is as tough as the steel frame, which also guarantees the necessary heat and soundproofing.
It is a two-storey house: a complex of pure lines underlined by a limited range of materials and colours, and linear openings that highlight the series of frames with glazed corners. The blinds and interior curtains are all inside a veil and are invisible both inside and out when they are not closed.
The windows that were chosen for the living room have “lifting-sliding” frames (2.64 m wide and 2.30 m high) which, with their special opening mechanism, ensure that when the sliding wing is closed the mechanism on the bottom of the steel frame lowers slightly, and this way the seals on the bottom side beat against the sliding surface, which does not form any ridge given its small size. This mechanism guarantees the perfect seal for the frame when it is closed. A normal sliding mechanism (not “lifting-sliding”) always has some slack along the bottom, to enable the wing to slide, but causes problems and requires further insulation to keep out the water and drafts.
This construction choice for the frames has placed anti-housebreaking safety in the forefront but without overlooking the refined appearance: large windows framed by strong yet extremely slender frames.

By Marina Cescon ( “Acciaio Arte Architettura” n.45 )

Project: Residential unit
Client: Private
Location: Udine, Italy
Architect: Arch. Antonio Longo
Steel works: Steel System
Steel profiles for doors and windows: Palladio Spa, Treviso; Italy
Construction years: 2009-2010
Photographs: Marco Cerullo

Introducing modern and comfortable living concepts and respecting the historic nature of the Palazzo were the guidelines in the renovation project: on one hand recovery work by eliminating the superstructures, restoring the frescoes and floors and, on the other hand, introducing highly modern features such as the steel window and doorframes, the lights, floors, furnishings and design items.
The modern art gallery is on the ground floor of the Palazzo, where the original large arches have been re-opened (which had been bricked up) and filled with windows with steel frames – the only material that could hold up their weight without any risk of the frame deforming – which are virtually invisible from the outside as they are hidden inside the columns, which is possible thanks to the very narrow 2 mm thick expertly rolled painted steel frames. This way the arched windows conserve the original very large openings – 1.70 m x 3.70 m high – without any unattractive visual impact, but ensuring that the original facade of the antique Palazzo is conserved, but with excellent performance and anti-intrusion safety guaranteed by the strong steel frames.
The art gallery also extends to the area that was previously the wine cellar: the old rooms have been restored with their vaulted ceilings resting columns and all the features that have been added over the years have been removed.
The Disegno architectural studio has its offices on the ground floor, near to the Palazzo entrance, and a public relations area in a frescoed hall with a decorated wood ceiling and inlaid parquet floor dating back to 1800.

By Marzia Urettini ( “Acciaio Arte Architettura” n. 42 )

Project: Renovation of Palazzo Beccaguti
Designer: Studio di Architettura Disegno, Mantova, Arch. Michele Ghisi, Arch. Francesca Menegoni, Arch. Massimo Parma
Client: Private
Location: Mantova
Steel windows and doorframes: Palladio SpA, Treviso, Italia
Photos: Studio Disegno, Mantova

In 2003 the Junquera Studio began the renovation project for the construction, which had been seriously damaged in time, beginning with strengthening and repairing the concrete structure, which had been designed by Eduardo Torroja and which today is considered one of the greatest works of the 20th century.
The restoration work to this spectacular construction was achieved by generally following the outlines of the original project from 1934, reinforcing the former qualities, reorganising a more functional use and layout of the spaces, restoring its original fascination. Some of the restoration work involved the stands, which are the emblematic image of the Hippodrome where the spectators could see the races. The circulation for the public and the jockeys and horses has been reorganised on different levels so that there is no interference between them.
There is a row of galvanised steel openings along the north and south stands, formed of a 20 m long window frame holding sliding, lifting windows of 3.5 m high and 3.15 m wide, anchored on an HM 120 metal structure to support the vaults, plus two other windows on each side that house the emergency doors. The frames are made from profiles that divide the windows into sections. The sliding lifting windows are designed with mobile mirror finish openings outwards and fixed ones inwards, with hideaway runners with no floor barriers for easy pedestrian entry and exit. The strong 20/20 steel profiles that have been used for the frames give excellent mechanical strength even with excessive, heavy duty use of the openings, for long lasting efficient operations.
The Madrid Hippodrome has been returned to its people, who can now once again enjoy the horse races again in the setting of this magnificent structure fully respecting and conserving its monumental nature as long as possible.

By Giulia Sartor (”Acciaio Arte Architettura” n.44)

Project: Renovation of the Hippodrome de la Zarzuela di Madrid
Time of construction: under construction
Architects: Junquera Arquitectos, Madrid
Structural engineering: Fernàndez Casado S.L.
Steel works: Victor Martin Laguna S.L.
Steel profiles for doors and windows: Palladio Spa,Treviso, Italy
Photos: Alberto Minio Paluello