CENTRO SERVIZI
The Grosotto Service Centre is located in a small mountain municipality in the Valtellina valley, within a modest urban fabric characterized by historic buildings belonging to the Alpine architectural tradition, juxtaposed with more recent developments dating from 1960s.
The project, selected as the winning entry in an architectural competition, aims to organize the required program within a compact volume capable of coherently interpreting both the context and the historic built environment of the Alpine territory.
The building is conceived as a solid, monolithic volume with a grey plaster finish, into which windows and loggias are carved in an irregular arrangement. The openings are emphasized by timber reveals, lending the intervention a domestic character. The pitched roof recalls the traditional roofscape of Alpine architecture.
The building frontage is set back from Via Mortirolo, while the change in level is resolved through a concrete plinth housing the parking garage and technical rooms. Above the plinth, a small raised square separates pedestrian circulation from vehicular access, providing a protected outdoor space for the users of the Service Centre.
The upper volume is articulated into two principal heights. The single-storey wing accommodates the nursery school and the school canteen within two large halls topped by coffered laminated timber ceilings. The adjacent multi-storey volume contains sheltered housing units for self-sufficient elderly residents, together with additional shared facilities.
Internally, the irregular arrangement of openings creates a sequence of framed views towards the surrounding landscape. The apertures are carefully calibrated in relation to the users: in the nursery school they ensure outward views for young children, while in the residential units the exterior can also be perceived from a bed or an armchair.
The result is a compact and contemporary volume that partially recalls the context to which it belongs, while at the same time deliberately distinguishing itself from it.
