A resilient refurbishment project for an Italian large sports hall

Syracuse, NY

In Europe the management costs and lack of flexibility of the sports halls, built in the second half of the ‘900, brought to the progressive abandonment of many structures. In this context the environmental, social and economic sustainable aspects of a refurbishment project of an Italian large sports hall, named “Palasport”, are presented. It was designed by a group of architects and engineers and completed in 1962. It is located in the expo area of Genoa, a north Italian city, called “Fiera del Mare” and it plays a strategic role in the social community. In the past it hosted several international events such as concerts, fairs, exhibitions and sporting events. Today the building is completely unused for several reasons, including the obsolescence of the mechanical and technological systems, the high operating costs, the lack of versatility and adaptability of the structure. For these reasons, it has been developed a project in the name of environmental, social and economic sustainability for a building that could attract different types of users during the day. The project is realized with the support of Building Information Modelling (BIM) methodology. The BIM is used to execute various simulations and scenarios to obtain the best possible results, to analyze functional, social, energetic and economic aspects. Furthermore, it is used to simulate Palasport in dynamic condition to understand its real behavior with dedicated applications (Equest, ElumTools). In the presented refurbishment project renewable energies are used: from the sun for the production of electrical energy, from the seawater to improve the performance of the Heat Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system and from the wind to refresh the pavilion. This project makes the Palasport a flexible and resilient construction and adapt it to the future needs of society.

https://surface.syr.edu/ibpc/2018/MS1/1