In Venice, Generali opens to the public the famous palace of the Procuratie Vecchie that overlooks St. Mark’s Square and becomes the home of the social initiative The Human Safety Net, an exhibition and environment space dedicated to people in vulnerable conditions so that they can unleash their potential.
But before the opening of this building with more than 500 years of history, five years were spent employed in the restoration, which took place thanks to David Chipperfield Architects Milan, which has offices in Tokyo, Milan, Berlin and Shanghai. David Chipperfield, a world-renowned British architect and one of the most important figures in contemporary architecture, said
“We are grateful to Generali and the city of Venice for giving us the extraordinary opportunity to work on the Procuratie Vecchie project. Repairing, reuniting and adapting the many layers of this historic structure has been a complex and rewarding challenge that reconnects us with the power of architecture both as physical substance and as a collaborative process. We look forward to seeing the building reintegrate into the city and support Venice as a living place of activity and innovation.”
SACAIM, a historical company in the Veneto region and also known for the construction of the Ponte della Libertà in Venice, and Resimix srl, our company, also participated in the restoration project.
Our work in the restoration of the Procuratie Vecchie palace.
We immediately shared the idea of architect David Chipperfield regarding the restoration of this famous and ancient Venetian palace: reinterpreting traditional elements in a contemporary way, with innovative methods.
For over a year, we at Resimix were in charge of the flooring and part of the wall covering. In total, we covered an area of more than 3,000 square meters and handmade more than 600 steps.
The floors.
Two types of floors, Venetian Terrazzo and Pastellone, were created for the interior spaces.
The Venetian Terrazzo was created using Botticino fiorito grits and Botticino and Bianco Verona powder, mixed with epoxy binders from the TerrazzoSirtec range, all subsequently water-sanded and polished.
The photo shows the Venetian-style floor made with epoxy binder and marble grit, cast in place and then polished.
The floors in the following photo are in pastellone, a micro-veneer resulting from an ancient mixture of lime and marble powder, pulled with spatulas and smoothed once hardened (the finish is similar to that in grassello).
For this project, we created a pastellone using one of our flagship products, DecorWave, a trowel-effect epoxy coating mixed with a mixture of sandstone, Botticino marble powder and Bianco Verona.
Walls.
On the first floor, the Venetian floor also continues vertically by covering the walls up to the water level. In this case, the Venetian Terrazzo surface was made in panels that were then applied to the walls.
For this purpose, formwork was built into which we cast the Venetian Blanket mixture: once cured, each panel was sanded using a calibrator and then reinforced on the back.
The steps.
The steps were made from precast concrete and steel elements. Each was coated in pastel on both the tread and the riser and then sanded by hand on both surfaces. Much attention was paid to the edges, which represent one of the most delicate points.
The strips that can be seen on the treads are brass non-slip profiles, a safety guard on a polished and then smooth surface. Each of these profiles was inserted manually by making a cut a few millimeters deep on the tread surface and then inserting the brass profile, which was fixed with epoxy adhesive.
Exteriors.
Cocciopesto paving was chosen for the walking surfaces in the building’s exterior spaces; according to tradition, fragments of tiles and bricks were used and then mixed with lime and then smoothed.
For these surfaces, the mix consists exclusively of ground terracotta screened in the various grain sizes and powders of the same material, then mixed with an epoxy binder from the TerrazzoSirtec range.
The surfaces are treated with an anti-slip polymer coating, a necessary measure for safety since this is a polished surface placed outdoors.
Till bathrooms with floor and walls always in TerrazzoSirtec.
Floors and parapets were constructed using the prefabricated panel technique, glued onto reinforcing slabs and attached to a metal substructure. The floor slabs are resting on height-adjustable feet.
Here we have again used materials from the TerrazzoSirtec range, this time in the cocciopesto variant with earthenware powder and red-Verona marble: this cladding can be considered eco-sustainable thanks to its composition obtained from the recovery of discarded brick elements.
We are proud to have participated in this restoration work for a wonderful palace, a protagonist of Venetian history and among the symbols of our territory, and to have collaborated with one of the most successful architects in the world.
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The restoration of a Venetian palace – Resimix srl
In the restoration work of the famous palace of the Procuratie Vecchie in Venice, we also participated by covering walls and floors: we tell you about it here!