The perimeter of the building will be made safe and the former guardian, the garden room and the external part made accessible for tourists
IVREA. A matter of a month, probably even less, and the first redevelopment and enhancement interventions of the Olivetti nursery will start. On 18 March the Municipality entrusted the work to the temporary grouping of companies between the operators Fiammengo Federico Srl of Turin and Lauria Impianti Srl of Settimo Torinese. The two won the interventions with a drop of almost 28%. The total contractual amount is 562,450 euros. The execution times must be fast. The works must be completed by 31 December 2021, under penalty of loss of the contributions granted with the call.
The historic building designed in the late 1930s by architects Figini and Pollini has been closed since June 2017 because it is no longer safe (currently the children are located in three different locations). The renovation costs, according to the feasibility study, are very high. There is talk of a figure between 4 and 5 million euros. To be clear, the verification of the seismic and structural capacity first highlighted the need to relieve the roof of the main building from the mass of loads that have accumulated over time. The waterproofing interventions that have taken place over the decades, in fact, have had the effect of adding new thicknesses of the screed in addition to each other, resulting in a significant load for which the floor was not designed. Furthermore, the structure must in any case be subjected to works that make it compatible with the most recent anti-seismic regulations.
«Inevitable, therefore, to proceed by step considering the resources available to the Municipality – explains the city planning and public works councilor Michele Cafarelli -. In December 2019 we managed to win the European tender (725 thousand euros) managed by the Region for the refurbishment of buildings within Unesco heritage cities. Those we are going to perform, after the abrupt stop in March last year caused by the lockdown, are interventions that are still functional to the reopening of the structure, because our goal remains to return the structure to families and children. The Olivetti kindergarten, however, also has a tourist value because many people ask us to be able to visit the structure designed by Figini and Pollini ».
The first intervention is represented by the works that will make the former guardian, the garden classroom, the (original) interior furnishings of two classrooms overlooking the garden usable again. In addition, the perimeter of the building will be secured: the stone slabs that have long been in danger of coming down and which contain asbestos. In November of last year, precisely in anticipation of this first intervention, the Municipality had carried out a geological survey and some samples to verify the presence of asbestos in the sheaths of the roofs, in the linoleum flooring and in the plasters and in the buildings, former guardian. «During the execution of the works the building will be bank transfer – adds the commissioner Cafarelli -. The asbestos will be removed not only from the plaster but also from the pipes of the heating system ». The entire ground floor of the main body of the building, in fact, had been compartmentalized and made inaccessible during the years 2011-2012 due to the presence of asbestos.
Returning to the enhancement work, the former guardian will in fact become a welcoming place for tourists, obviously without replacing the visitor center. Here there will be an exhibition of photos and video projections to tell about the nursery and more generally the corporate welfare of Olivetti. The other redevelopment interventions will concern the park and the internal pedestrian paths. «All works – adds the councilor for heritage Elisabetta Piccoli – essential to return the architectural complex to its original function, which is that of the nursery. With this first intervention we begin to recover one of the most characteristic buildings of the Unesco heritage ». –