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Almost 900 days of work, a 32 million investment, a new home for 850 brands: three years after the start of the project, the renovation of the historic Rinascente store in Piazza Fiume in Rome has been completed. The building, located between the Pinciano and Salario districts, was completed in 1961, designed by Franco Albini, master of Italian Neo Rationalism, and Franca Helg and was immediately considered one of the most interesting and innovative projects for spaces of shopping at the time. Over time he had become a bit introverted, he had also physically closed some spaces and handed over others to the municipal administration: but after the intervention, led by the 2050+ studio of Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli who studied the original project in depth, respecting its peculiarities, today the building has once again become a shopping landmark in the city, loved above all by residents, who in fact generate 95% of its sales. A complement, therefore, to the other Rinascente store in via del Tritone, which will soon celebrate its first 6 years of life and is frequented mainly by tourists. 1 million admissions and a turnover of 35 million euros are expected in Piazza Fiume in 2023.
«We are in eight cities with nine stores, Rome is the only one where we have two stores – underlined Pierluigi Cocchini, at Rinascente -. Piazza Fiume has always been a reference address for the city, it is our third store after Milan and Rome Tritone, but it needed renovation to become an attractive space for brands and their needs. But it is not a presence linked only to shopping. We provide direct employment to 150 people, the related industries involve another 200, so we are one of the most important sources of work in the city centre.”
In recent months the construction site work has continued without the building having to be closed: the windows have been enlarged, like the Garden Center, designed as an entrance area to the new panoramic lift that leads up to the rooftop, with its bright glass roof. , where the Food area is located with the restaurant managed by Enoteca La Torre and which can be accessed even after the shopping areas are closed. The view from above on the Aurelian Walls is magnificent, evoking the portion of the 1st century Vergine Aqueduct found in the underground floor of the store in via del Tritone.
The renewal of the layout of the women’s, men’s and children’s areas is also combined with a broader Beauty offer on the entrance floor. The six floors bear the signature of studios 2050+, Dwa Milano, Paolo Lucchetta and Studio Wok and in the basement, the underground floor that the Municipality of Rome returned to the property, and entrusted to the Florentine studio Fabbricanove, hosts the Home&Design area and Travel and will be a venue for special events. The building, of which the iconic external bricks in Silipol have been maintained and indeed enhanced, a material used here for the first time, has also improved its environmental impact, rising by four energy classes, from E to A1. The property is owned by Prelios, the fund which also owns another crucial shopping area in Rome, the Galleria Alberto Sordi, where the city’s first Uniqlo store is also expected to arrive next spring.
Following its philosophy of being “in” the cities but also “for” the cities where its stores are located, Rinascente also financed the renovation of the sidewalks adjacent to the store, therefore on via Aniene, via Salaria and piazza Fiume. In 2019 he had already financed the redevelopment of via del Tritone and via dei Due Macelli, next to the other shop.