on July 1, 2015
On April 15th, 2014, the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (affiliated to the USI) announced an architectural design competition for interdisciplinary teams, with a selective procedure, for the planning of the new headquarters of the IRB in the ex-military camp area (between via Francesco Chiesa and via del Bramantino).
Basing itself on the report of the jury for the new building, the Foundation of the Institute had decided to allow 11 project teams to participate in the competition phase. The objective of the competition phase was to develop a project for a building consisting of spaces used for offices, laboratories with attached offices, and meeting rooms. The building would bring the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), the Institute for Oncology Research (IOR) and the research laboratories of the Neurocenter of Southern Switzerland (NSI) all under one roof. The estimated investment for the new building is 44 million Swiss francs.
After a preliminary examination, 10 competition proposals were admitted for evaluation by the jury. The same jury, which had also been involved in a phase of in-depth analysis beyond the competition phase, established the final classification, the awards and reimbursements for the finalists at the conclusion of the evaluation procedure, based upon a comprehensive evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of the urbanistic, architectural, functional and constructive solutions, as well as the economic implications of the projects remaining in the competition.
The Foundation entirely adopted the recommendations of the jury confirming the following classification:
1st place, Nel Parco project, Team of Aurelio Galfetti, Lugano-Massagno;
2nd place, Petridish project, Team of Cruz Ortiz + Giraudi Radczuweit, Lugano;
3rd place, Stoa project, SAM Team, Zurich.
Messi Associati SA of Bellinzona and Erisel SA of Bellinzona make up part of the team of Aurelio Galfetti, winner of the competition, for their respective contributions in Civil Engineering and Energy and Physics. For the specialized areas of laboratory design and plant engineering, the team will collaborate with Steam SRL of Padua.
The next steps include the assigning of the mandate to the Aurelio Galfetti team for the preparation of the final project. Then, the project will be fine-tuned according to the recommendations of the jury, formal verifications will be made, and the project team will eventually be completed as foreseen by the competition program. The preparation of the final project, the authorization procedure (building permit), the contracts and the execution upon the definitive confirmation of federal, cantonal and municipal subsidies will all follow. The construction site is expected to open in the fall of 2017. If there are no setbacks, the work is due to conclude by the end of 2020.
