Monza (Monza Brianza) - Italy
CM2 Studio - Maffeis Mangiagalli architetti, Giorgio Mangiagalli, Stefano Maffeis - Edilizia residenziale

Quarzite Ceniza Extreme Active 75x15 cm
Uranus Maximum, Venus Maximum, Mercury Maximum, Moon Maximum, NewCo.de 60x30 cm + 60x15 cm : 2000 mq (ca.)

The active+ project consists in recovering 2 existing factory buildings located at Monza (Monza and Brianza) and currently out of use. The job consists in a conversion to residential use, making 24 apartments (single/double and three-room) providing three stay formulas: short term (for family members of in-patients at the hospital), medium term (seasonal, students) and long term (residents).
The vertical connections are provided by shared stairways located inside the blade-shaped ends of the buildings at the north and south, and separate glazed lift shafts. The existing pilaster structure, which articulates the east and west facades, is maintained. On the other hand, the existing perimeter wall has been demolished to make way for a new shell which satisfies energy saving and eco-sustainability requirements.
A cap insulation cladding for the existing pilasters has been designed, while the new perimeter wall is composed of blocks of autoclaved concrete (36.5 cm thickness) with a plaster finish; the entire building shell is clad with Active Clean Air & Antibacterial Ceramic™ and Maximum porcelain stoneware slabs. The "blades” of the north/south facades and the pilasters of the east/west facades characterise the project architectonically, and have been covered with Active Quarzite Ceniza Extreme slabs to give a textured material effect.
Overall 680 m2 of Active materials have been used, to guarantee an antibacterial action and reduction of polluting factors to an estimated amount of around 27 trees. The west/east facades of the perimeter walls, including the spaces between the pilasters, are clad with Maximum tiles in a variety of sizes to compose a facade frame which alternates areas of porcelain stoneware with glazed windows and parapets.
The alternating colour scheme (Uranus, Venus, Mercury and Moon) and sizes give an up&down movement to the partitions between the pilasters which appear more static, since they are clad with textured Quarzite Ceniza Extreme Active tiles.
The modular use of a variety of sizes of Maximum has resulted in a minimum amount of wasted material - around 2%.
The active+ building is active in a variety of ways: it provides a social/functional mix due to the variety of types of final users, it is designed using the most sustainable materials available, is saves more open space by recovering out of use buildings, keeping their bearing structure and thus reducing the amount of demolished waste materials and debris, it has a very high performance building shell, the tile cladding reduces pollutants, and it offers a minimum Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) due to the use of autoclaved concrete blocks (EEEnbodied Energy < clad masonry walls) and coverings in glued on porcelain stoneware tiles (EE-Enbodied Energy < metal cladding with/without substructure).