A school tailored to students

According to school principal Paolo Rasera, the new «Martino Martini» institute opened at the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year in the northern Italian town of Mezzolombardo «enables students to develop into trained professionals ready to grasp the new opportunities that are opening up in our region, promotes meetings and generates growth prospects, fosters a culture of education, promotes models of quality and allows young people to achieve their full potential».
The modern complex in Via Perlasca, designed in accordance with energy saving and sustainability criteria, can accommodate around 500 students and stands out for its brightly lit and airy spaces. It has 30 classrooms, 10 well-equipped laboratories, 3 rooms for technical drawing, a reading room, an assembly hall, a teachers’ staffroom, study rooms, secretarial and head teacher’s offices, a canteen, a large gym, a caretaker’s apartment and large green outdoor spaces.
The Martino Martini project, created by architects Roberto Bortolotti and Andrea Pallaver in collaboration with engineers S. Ferrari, M. Pagliari and P. Palmieri, is based on a meticulous study of access, circulation, structural and envelope criteria. The layout consists of a kind of modular and structural grid divided into functional blocks and interconnected by a system of rational and clearly defined pathways. The atrium and educational areas form the main volume, followed by the auditorium and canteen block and then the gym volume. The main entrance to the building in Via Perlasca is protected by a large canopy and opens onto the internal atrium, which extends vertically and leads to clearly visible access routes.
The external spaces are organised around an attractive square that connects the open-air sports area with the internal hall, while a large underground car park provides 85 parking spaces.
The building was constructed in strict accordance with the sustainability procedures established by the LEED Silver protocol using environmentally-friendly materials sourced from locations no more than 800 km from the site. Ceramic tiles from Floor Gres’s Ecotech collection were used for the floors and walls. This tile collection is based on an industrial project that reuses powders, bodies and residues originating from other production processes to create a composite material in which the aggregated flakes and granules generate an unusual melange effect. This porcelain tile collection has gained ECOLABEL and LEED certification for its ecologically sustainable manufacturing process.
Energy efficiency criteria are assured by the presence of an autonomous energy production system consisting of photovoltaic panels for electrical energy and solar panels for sanitary water. The internal heating system (floor, air or conventional heating in the various areas) and the ventilation and cooling systems also contribute to a high level of comfort.
The Martino Martini institute is an impressive structure that achieves sustainability, flexibility and extensibility both inside (due to the carefully designed spatial layout) and outside (through the potential to add new classroom modules). Last but not least, the teaching activities provided by the school are complemented by educational tools capable of raising awareness of energy consumption issues and promoting alternative resources and environmental sustainability.