De Gianfilippi Nursery Expansion and Renovation Project Begins

The expansion and renovation works of the De Gianfilippi nursery school on via Dante Alighieri will commence at the end of September. This project is necessary, especially to comply with recent regulations concerning technological systems, the removal of architectural barriers, thermal insulation, safety, and workplace hygiene.

In practice, since the building’s construction in 1961, apart from modest maintenance and adjustments made during the school years, the school has never undergone significant refurbishment or upgrade works.

Details of the intervention

The project involves expanding the building on a single floor by combining the former nuns’ apartment, which is now vacant. This will increase the number of educational units; there will be four, each equipped with its own bathroom, in accordance with ministerial regulations.

A new cafeteria with an attached kitchen will be created, while within the same building but with a separate entrance, a daycare for children aged one to three years will be established.

The classrooms, positioned beside the garden (retaining the same volume), will feature large windows to avoid a stark separation from the outside environment.

Additional spaces will be created on the ground floor, accessible also from the courtyard.

Innovative structures and costs

An innovative idea is to build a small semicircular outdoor amphitheater, with features originating from the same building.

The estimated cost of the project is around 2 billion 260 million euros, including 175 million euros invested in furnishings.

The construction period is set at 400 days. Penalties for delays are fixed at one million euros per day.

Comments and collaborations

“We believe this is a beautiful project and, in some ways, futuristic,” says the vice mayor Valter Rizzi with satisfaction.

“New educational and play spaces are created, which are essential for children’s activities. Currently, the nurseries have been relocated to the Salesiani Tusini institute and will remain there until the works are completed, likely for the entire current school year and part of the next.”

The agreement the Municipality made with the Salesians is valid until June 2002. Rizzi thanks the religious community for their cooperation, as well as the elderly circle of piazzale Gramsci, from where the shuttle bus departs every morning to take children to Tusini.

“Together with the nursery staff, they care for the children while waiting for the bus: both in the morning and upon returning in the afternoon.”

Stefano Joppi