- Italcementi Group

ITCLab, the new Italcementi Group Research Centre under construction on the outskirts of Bergamo, won prestigious international award.
The Chicago Athenaeum and the European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies presented the Green Good Design Award to the building designed by architect Richard Meier.
The Good Design Award is a highly regarded international award, introduced in 1950 in Chicago (USA) by influential designers and personalities from the world of architecture, including Eero Saarinen, Edgar J. Kaufmann Jr. and Charles and Ray Eames. Every year it is conferred to innovative architectural and design projects in 23 different categories.

Since 2008, the Chicago Atheneum and the European Centre have decided to place special emphasis on projects focused on Sustainable Development, in which companies in the world are investing to promote territorial and environmental protection.
This year hundreds of architects, planners and designers from over 40 countries applied. The competing projects were assessed by a professional jury that chose to assign the award to Richard Meier and the new Italcementi Group Research Centre. The building has been designed and built in compliance with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. LEED is the most recognized and rigorous American certification system in the field of energy and the environment.

The building, with a surface area of 11,000 m2, 7,500 m2 of which entirely devoted to research laboratories, is part of the Kilometro Rosso Science & Technology Park of Bergamo and aims at meeting even the most stringent requirements in terms of energy saving and design innovation quality.
In addition to its superior architectural features, the building will be at the forefront of technological excellence also thanks to a wide use of alternative energy sources. The roof, for example, will be fitted with photovoltaic panels able to generate over 54,560 kWh a year, for a total saving of 12.7 metric tons of fossil fuels, and more than 250 m2 of high-temperature, under-vacuum tube solar panels providing heating and air conditioning to the various building areas.
What is more, the ITCLab will be coated with the TX Active® ‘smog-eating’ cement produced by Italcementi, a product that architect Meier already used for the Jubilee Church in Rome.

The structure that will house the activities of over 170 Italcementi researchers, daily engaged in the development of innovative construction materials, will be operational between late 2010 and early 2011.
The Good Design Award-winning projects, including ITCLab by Richard Meier and Italcementi, will be showcased from July 7at the Contemporary Space in Athens (Greece).