Category: Cultural | Honorary Mention

Winner of an international competition in two phases, the project meets the client’s requirements of sustainability, environmental respect and high performances.
It represents one of the first public buildings in Italy that makes use of the straw-bales technology, furthermore keeping the construction cost on the average of Italian public buildings and strongly lowering the operation costs.
A building where users can find not only library services, but also comfort and integration between architectural and technological features: the adoption of passive strategies improves the energy performance of the building, and has come to strongly differentiate the appearance.
The library itself is a symbol: of knowledge, of awareness, of broad-mindedness, of the intelligent fruition of resources; a sort of monument to sustainability and to environmental respect, realized by way of the laminated timber structure, the straw-bale walls and the natural ventilation systems.

Location: Tuscany, Italy
Total Cost: 4.828.576 €
Plot Area: 1950 m²
Total Plot Area: 2.300 m²

AREA PROGETTI srl | una2 architetti associati | Arch. Laura Ceccarelli
Arch. Andrea Michelini | Golder Associates srl

www.area-progetti.it