Coop Cento - Cento (FE) - Italy
Architects: Ing Boldegrini Monica Studio Tecnopolis
The many possible applications of high-tech ceramic slabs include large-scale retail facilities where large numbers of visitors make it important to use particularly high-performing materials.
FMG Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti porcelain not only guarantees the highest performance to be found on the ceramics market but proposes a series of innovative design applications using maxi-slabs.
An example is offered by the renovation of the COOP supermarket in Cento (Ferrara), to plans by Tecnopolis (engineer Monica Boldegrini), for which FMG Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti supplied high-tech ceramic maxi-slabs for the ventilated façade.
The project, implemented "in the context of an urban renewal plan for revitalisation of the whole area", involved reclamation, integration and expansion of the existing building with revision of the supermarket’s retail format and restyling of its exterior.
The expansion resulted in a considerable increase in the amount of floor space (from 5 to 6 thousand square metres) and therefore expansion of the available retail space, created primarily using recyclable sustainable materials.
The principal concrete structure was reclaimed and improved in terms of both seismic performance and thermal insulation.
This was the reason for selection of FMG ceramic maxi-slabs, designed for easy installation and optimisation of substructures.
Ventilated façades with FMG porcelain slabs offer a series of benefits in addition to thermal and acoustic insulation, protecting buildings against the action of wind, rain and other meteorological agents and keeping walls dry thanks to the air chamber between the wall and the cladding, which ensures effective natural ventilation.
All this considerably increases the wall’s durability and optimises energy efficiency, particularly for tall buildings which are particularly exposed to the elements.
We must also take into consideration the aesthetic value of high-tech ceramic, much greater than that of conventional masonry. For the COOP supermarket in Cento, the architects chose the traditional marble-effect Travertino slab from the Maxfine range which stands out for its sobriety and formal elegance, a form of cladding that fits perfectly into the urban landscape around it, conveying the feeling of strength and resistance typical of the best marble-effect surfaces.
The ventilated façade system was installed by Granitech