Projects

Il parco tematico Rainbow Magic Land - Valmontone (RM)

Rainbow Magic Land

The magic world of entertainment, retail and catering in a theme park just outside Italy's capital
Author
Elisa Montalti
Architect
Alfa Park
Surfaces
CAESAR
Year of completion
2011

Located close to the Valmontone Outlet Fashion District in Italy’s Lazio region, the Rainbow Magic Land theme park is part of the integrated Roma-Valmontone tourism complex just 30 km outside the capital, a site where a new-concept hotel and accommodation facility is also under construction. This American-style theme park, built entirely with Italian resources and expertise, spans a range of sectors including entertainment, real estate and innovative retail with the aim of appealing to various levels of tourism and ensuring a high visitor influx. The idea for the Park was devised by the company Alfa Park srl, whose principal shareholder is Draco spa. The chairman of Draco is Mario Dora, the entrepreneur who created Mirabilandia in Ravenna in the 1990s and recently invested in the Miragica amusement park in Puglia. Draco spa was one of the first companies in Italy to promote the idea of partnerships with local authorities to develop multifunctional complexes combining commercial and retail services with entertainment and hospitality. The large Lazio theme park, based on an American model but adapted to the specific Italian context, offers 35 attractions, two theatres (including one for children), 28 dining venues (including 5 restaurants), a 4D planetarium/cinema, a 16,000 sq.m artificial lake and a multifunctional building with more than 2,000 seats for water shows and circus acts which in winter converts into an ice rink. The dual nature of the park as an entertainment and retail outlet is clearly expressed. The Park, extending over a surface area of 600,000 sq.m, has a strong focus on the theme of magic, with the aim of “taking visitors on a journey through a fantasy land filled with enchanted castles, Vikings, fairies, sorcerers and heroic adventurers”. With this in mind, the Park management has also set up a commercial and marketing partnership with the Rainbow group, owners of a number of children’s entertainment brands (including Winx) used as the themes for six of the 24 areas.
Caesar has supplied approximately 4,800 sq.m of ceramic tiles with modules of various sizes for the floor coverings of the pedestrian walkways, restaurants, bars, pizzerias and the foyer of the children’s theatre. Principally inspired by the texture of natural stone, the material is in fact much tougher and more compact than stone and is able to withstand the high levels of stress generated by the large numbers of daily visitors. The chosen collections are suitable for both interiors and exteriors. One of the collections, Wildland, is inspired by American slate with a characteristic layered structure that further enhances its varied colour and shade transitions. For the often magical and surreal spaces, the project adopts different types of colour and installation layout to create highly varied textures and ever-changing geometric patterns.

Tiles
Caesar, " Wildland", "Millenarie", "Antiche Pietre", "Tecnolito" collections
Type
porcelain stoneware
Sizes
60x60, 45x45, 30x45, 30x30, 15x30, 15x15 cm
Technical characteristics
Water absorpion (ISO 10545-3): 0,05%
Chemical resistance (ISO 10545-13): compliant
Resistance to deep abrasion (ISO 10545-6): ≤ 140 mm3
Stain resistance (ISO 10545-14): compliant
Frost resistance (ISO 10545-12): compliant
Modulus of rupture and breaking strength (ISO 10545-4): ≥ 47 N/mm2 (Tecnolito ≥ 50 N/mm2)
Slip resistance (DIN 51130): Tecnolito R9matt, Wildland e Antiche Pietre R10 a+b, Millenarie Pietra di Jericho e Quarzite di Galizia R 11 a+b
Thermal shock resistance (ISO 10545-9): compliant
Linear thermal expansion (ISO 10545-8): compliant
Certifications and awards
ECOLABEL
LEED
ISO 14001
NF UPEC
Request Project info > Products Gallery >