Officine Bellinzona: Winner

Transformation of a central industrial area into a mixed-used eco-district for housing, education and culture.

An international team that includes sa_partners, TAMassociati, Studio Franco Giorgetta has won the major masterplan competition Officine Bellinzona, an urban-scale redevelopment project at the heart of Bellinzona, the capital of Ticino.

A large-scale masterplan rethinks the heart of the cantonal capital, projecting it towards a generational time frame. It introduces new elements of research and the idea of a gradual development in the name of all-round sustainable regeneration. And it’s future-proof.

The proposal ‘Porta del Ticino’ interprets the industrial legacy of the site while reanimating it with contemporary programs centred on an ethos of sustainability. The scheme rethinks a large railway factory that has engaged a central area for more than a century. It integrates the enclosed urban realm, reconnecting surrounding neighbourhoods with a vibrant mixed-use district rooted in the principles of inclusivity, biodiversity, resiliency, connectivity and livability. Built around a new Great Park that serves as the green heart of the development, Porta del Ticino celebrates its layered histories while offering shared environments for living, culture, education and leisure that unite a diverse community of residents, students, office workers and visitors.