EURopean garden

Location: Rome
Area: 1200 Smq
Cliente: Asset Mangement Company
Project time: working progress

Attention to outdoor spaces is an increasingly important topic, not only among public entities but also among private ones. A building located in Rome’s EUR district features precisely this feature: an outdoor area facing the main façade. Our project involved enhancing the building’s ground floor (converted into a restaurant) by enhancing the roof garden serving it.
The property being renovated is located in southern Rome, in the EUR district. Planning for the project began in the 1930s and was only completed in the following decades due to the Second World War. The neighborhood is currently characterized by the presence of numerous museums, such as the Museum of Roman Civilization and the National Museum of the Early Middle Ages, prestigious buildings such as the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana and the Palazzo dei Congressi by architect A. Libera, and a significant residential and commercial area.

The design focused on enhancing the building’s ground floor, namely the change of use from a company canteen to a fully-fledged restaurant open to the public. Related to this, the enhancement of the roof garden overlooking it is planned.

The restaurant and the green area are accessed via two parallel, steeply sloping roads. This difference in level prevents the restaurant’s floor from being level with the green area, nor with the two road access points. For this reason, a ramp is planned to make the aforementioned spaces accessible to people with even mild mobility difficulties.

For the roof garden, now accessible, the project involves the creation of a walking surface composed of curved geometric shapes that follow one another and intersect, delineating walkways and rest areas to be equipped with removable furniture and equipment for restaurant customers.

The natural stone used as the finishing touch for the project will be in three different sizes, laid at different angles to further define the spaces and accentuate their dynamism. Furthermore, these stone elements will thin out along the edges of the paved surface to accommodate green lawn inserts.

Another aspect of the project concerns the theme of plant elements, conceived according to an “architectural” vision, aimed at “creating spaces” that serve as “screening” and “privacy control.” Given the limited depth of the soil layer above the underground parking deck, it was decided to plant only herbaceous and shrubby species, while maintaining the desire to preserve the existing magnolia trees.