- Tailor made projects / Urban Area
Mercato Isola Milan
The new identity of Mercato Isola, a virtuous example of urban regeneration.
Two years after the renovation work began, in 2022 the Zara Covered Market in Piazzale Lagosta reopened in Milan, changing its name to Mercato Isola while maintaining all its functions as a neighborhood market. Sprech contributed as technical partner to the urban regeneration project of Mercato Isola with the installation of outdoor seating areas equipped with perimeter glass enclosures, heating and air conditioning systems, and Wi-Fi connection.
The historic market stalls will not only sell fish, meat, cold cuts, and cheeses, but will also have kitchens where customers can consume the products directly on site. Mercato Isola will be open to the public from 9 AM to midnight every day, offering a new service to neighborhood residents. It will also be the first plastic-free market in the city of Milan.
In addition to consolidating the existing structure, the project included complete renovation of the roof with exposed laminated wood beams and compliance with fire prevention, structural safety, and energy efficiency regulations.
The urban regeneration project in which we were involved made it possible to bring the old structure, opened in 1946, into compliance with current regulations.
Q-Box Self-Supporting Pergolas
After consolidating the existing structure to ensure structural safety, complete renovation of the roof became necessary. The new roof, a ventilated pitched system, replicates the original in form and finishes, with laminated wood beams that remain exposed, giving a unique character to the interiors, and traditional tiles on top. The window frames were replaced with thermal break aluminum models and selective magnetron-coated glass, obtained through the deposition of a very thin layer of noble metal on the pane with post-production treatment of the glass itself.
The two lateral fronts were expanded with two new wings, filter spaces between interior and exterior: two Sprech glass prisms measuring 50×3.60 meters each, which rest against the existing structure “according to the principle of an abstract addition, which does not seek to blend with the existing, but to express itself openly with a respectful addendum” that allow for different use and occupation of the space.