San Giorgio Complex

The conservative restoration and re-functionalization of the former sixteenth-century monastic complex "San Giorgio", in Via del Padovanino in Padua, will allow the creation of new spaces for the University. 
The project includes study rooms and spaces for seminar activities on the ground floor, while the first floor will house offices of the central administration. The completion of the works is expected by the end of 2028.

The operation involves the north, south, east and west buildings of the complex and aims to create a unitary architectural organism, capable of combining the historical value of the building with the contemporary needs of flexibility, sustainability and functional efficiency.

The central element of the project is the transformation of the internal courtyard, now used as a parking lot, into a draining urban garden conceived as a public and community space dedicated to meeting, socialising and urban regeneration. The reorganization of the interiors enhances the valuable historical architectural elements, such as the sixteenth-century vaults, through the removal of the most recent additions and the insertion of glass walls that ensure transparency, brightness and acoustic comfort.

Particular attention is paid to the accessibility of the spaces, guaranteed by an internal distribution that allows full usability of both the areas on the ground floor and the offices located on the first floor.

The project also adopts innovative solutions from a structural and plant engineering point of view, with interventions to consolidate the historic walls, floors and wooden roofs, in harmonious dialogue with the protected architectural context. The technological systems will be discreetly integrated into the attics, helping to return to the academic community a representative, efficient building deeply rooted in the urban history of Padua.