Sancilio: new residential project in Bari

The Poggiofranco district on the outskirts of the city of Bari has been the focus of a major social housing project on an area measuring 40,000 square metres near the city’s ring road. The goal of organising residential construction (with various forms of subsidised construction) and non-residential buildings for offices and shops was based on a philosophy of construction aimed at establishing active, dynamic neighbourhoods where a combination of public and private functions guarantees dynamism and vitality. Set into the landscape, the project has addressed the difficulties involved in a lot of irregular shape on which to reconcile the open space of the square with the private space of homes and areas reserved for residents. The architects take advantage of the geometry of the land to build a neighbourhood that centres around the square, which is more than just a residential district, but a focus for the new neighbourhood built around the square, providing it with an identity. The backdrop for the stage that is the square is a glass office tower with adjacent apartments on one side, and on the other a large housing complex in the form of a series of towers, with a base consisting of the ground floor with its pillars and glass. Above this light base, apartments rise 13 floors upwards, designed to be like single-family dwellings with equal amounts of indoor floor space and terraces. The design of the terraces follows the layout of the towers, running from tower to tower and successfully generating rhythm on the facade, where the effect created by the full and empty volumes further reiterates the residential unit, avoiding the risk of alienation inherent in it. Each apartment has a large terrace, a necessary element to take advantage of one of the benefits of living on the outskirts of the city: an open view.
The complex opens up to dramatic effect into a central corridor which acts as a visual cone: this allows people in the square to see into the private gardens in the housing complex, and vice versa. There is a large garden area behind the building where children can play, with skateboarding and roller-skating areas, cycle paths and ponds.
The quality of the project is completed with the choice of finishes, particularly the metal elements on the facades, such as railings and walkways, designed by the architects, and the floor and wall coverings, overseen directly by the companies, in which the alternation of motifs and decorations reveals the architects’ interest in giving character to their project so that it will stand out from the surrounding constructions.
The need to mediate between elegant design, practicality and ease of maintenance in the flooring in the public spaces led to the choice of Porcelaingres porcelain stoneware from the Woodstone Collection, in the natural African Wenge finish and the large size 120x30, with the same manufacturer’s Oltimer and Rupas materials featuring different decorative motifs and colours to decorate common areas and entrances. The facades of the apartments were also covered with porcelain stoneware, because of the material’s strength and vast selection of themes: in this case the choice fell on GranitiFiandre’s Pietra Dorata, a material in delicate hues that contrast with the large glass surfaces on the ground level of the building. In the office tower, the glass surfaces are completed by combination with Rupas, a Granitifiandre porcelain stoneware in intense natural hues that balance the high-tech effect of the glass and aluminium.
In a successful combination of materials from the international architectural vocabulary such glass and metal with local materials such as porcelain stoneware, a traditional Italian material with vast expressive potential, the project is intended to provide a strong visual landmark in a changing setting.


Urban and architectural project and supervision of work: Studio Sancilio Ingegneri and Architetti Associati
Location: Bari (Italy)
Client: IACP Bari
Subsidised party: Consorzio Sviluppo e Costruzioni
Installation design: Ingegneria & Servizi S.r.l.
Structural design: Studio Costa Ingegneri Associati – Studio Gruppo Cinque
Suppliers:
First floor railings and walkways: Colella & Partners
Continuous facades: Coesi
Balcony railings: Sites
Frames: F.lli Cramarossa
Lot surface: 40,000 m2
Date of completion of work: 2010
Reinforced concrete structures
Aluminium and glass facades
Flooring in entrances and on landings made of Woodstone Collection African Wenge porcelain stoneware (120x30): Porcelaingres
Porcelain stoneware wall coverings in the entrance from the Oldtimer collection (60x60): Porcelaingres
Wall coverings on the ground floor and in office spaces made of Rupas porcelain stoneware (30x60): Porcelaingres
Outer cladding of homes made of Pietra Dorata 60x40 from the New Stone collection: Granitifiandre
Photographer: Pietro Savorelli