Cold Ironing

The “Cold Ironing” project involves electrifying the docks of the Port of Genoa for cruise ships and ferries.
This ecological transition project will significantly reduce air pollution currently produced by ship combustion engines, thanks to an installed power of 22 MVA, expandable to 62 MVA.

The strategic location between the city and the port inspired the designers to create a “hinge” between the infrastructure hubs of the Principe Railway Station, the Maritime Station, and the Ferry Terminal, as well as towards the city. The project therefore envisions compatibility with a territorial, rather than local, masterplan, which encompasses the functional and landscape features along the coast and their systemic connection.

Per tale motivo la copertura del Cold Ironing viene utilizzata come tolda di nave per ospitare, a pochi metri dal mare, la passeggiata lungo il Waterfront di ponente ed il collegamento verso il quartiere di Di Negro, con passerella posta sopra l’adiacente parco ferroviario.

The project radically changes the previous design solution with a view to improving the landscape integration with redesign, mitigation and compensation measures:

• the height of the building was reduced from 16 to 7 m in line with that of the Via Buozzi behind it, allowing a view from the city towards the sea;
• composition of two interconnected linear volumes with a central pause, which adapt to the space between the platform, railway and existing roads, designed according to a rigorous 60 cm module dictated by the dimensions of the materials, giving order between the parts;
• the building’s shape recalls that of ships, industrial archaeology, and the adjacent iconic Soprelevata highway.
  It features a blue aluminum cladding punctuated by vertical ribs, with exposed fastenings, a linear shape with a tapered “bow,” and a roof with a connecting walkway, ventilation hatches, a central mast, stairs, and a pergola, all clearly nautical in style.
• at the same time, the building demonstrates its function as a “machine” that transforms and distributes energy: the “ship” is thus punctuated by translucent polycarbonate side bulkheads, which “slide” past the volume, lending lightness to the elevations and recalling the shape of a large “battery” that powers the ships. The mast is modified and “punctuated” horizontally by five “electrical insulators” that correspond to the five ships the structure powers, illuminating at night, becoming an iconic building, coherently and harmoniously inserted into the port context to communicate its function to residents.
• the search for transparency, brightness, and lightness of the translucent polycarbonate infill panels communicates the theme of eco-sustainability but also recalls the sea and the sails of ships. the facade allows a view of its contents and is open to the city, subverting the common image of an opaque and blind industrial warehouse;
• the potential reuse of the roof as a public pedestrian path compliant with architectural barriers, conveying an image of innovation and sustainability for the revitalization of the city of Genoa towards a new, greener, more livable, more pedestrian-friendly, and cleaner vision, which has been taking place in recent years, from the Sub-Port Tunnel to the Lanterna Promenade and Park.