Compendium

Le Albere

The eco-neighborhood “Le Albere” is a redevelopment project located in one of the most important and central areas of Trento City. The land-use plan of the city individuates the area as a mixed area. Therefore, the project is composed of public use spaces, a green area, commercial and cultural activities and residences with underground parking lots. All the buildings are new and built with high-efficient materials and sustainable technologies.

The project is developed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop for the client Castello SGR, which manages the real estate works, in collaboration with other consultants. The process to develop the project started in 2002 and by 2012 Le Albere was completed. Sustainable measures are included in the fields of buildings and energy systems as well as reuse. For instance, the rainwater is completely reused, and all the buildings exploit the energy produced by the tri-generation power plant for a total installed power of about 14.8 MW. The co-generator produces 1.8 MW of electricity and 1.8 MW of recovered thermal energy, and in addition to that, five air-cooled refrigeration units with an output of 1175 kW each, are installed in the complex.

Dates of completion	2002-2013
Surface area	116,000 m²
Localization	Le Albere, Trento City, Autonomous Province of Trento, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Italy
Project description	Le Albere is still in the phase to conclude the sale of all the apartments to its future residents, therefore it is currently completing them, while implementing high-efficient materials and sustainable technologies.
Certification	The certification LEED Gold has been recognized to Le Albere, based on the use of geothermal probes, solar cells and the system to reuse the rainwater. Moreover, the CasaClima certification has been awarded to the project, since the buildings are built using high-efficient materials and because of the use of the tri-generation power plant.

Context

The redevelopment project of Le Albere is set up in an area of Trento City where there was an ex-Michelin complex that opened in 1924 and closed in 1998. At that point, negotiations between the owner and the local authorities started in order to redevelop the area. First, the city zoned the area with Iniziative Urbane S.p.A managing the process. In 2002, the project was entrusted to Renzo Piano Building Workshop, whom proposed the plan to the city in 2004.

Stakeholders

Renzo Piano Building Workshop : working together with the city department, and local planners, architects, landscape architects, consultants, engineers, property owners, real estate developers.

Sustainable Development

From the birth of the initial sketch for Le Albere by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the definition of the various goals of the project was set up. The first aim was to thicken the urban fabric to the east area; toward the railway and in continuity with the existing city. While on the west side, toward the Adige River, the project included a large urban park. Apart from the high-efficient materials used for the buildings as well as the sustainable technologies implemented, the buildings have a maximum height of 18 meters – which was the ex-Michelin complex height – and are planned longitudinally, where it is possible to find 300 meter-long treed avenues. Cars cannot enter the area, apart from the main road, and moreover, parking spaces are underground in order to leave more space for large green areas connected with pedestrian paths. Within the complex there are canals along the boulevards and wastewater is reused.