The site of the former Italcementi cement works is a link point between the historic center’s urban fabric and its modern expansions. It fills in the area between the hill and the Arno River as a new urban center defined by service industry, administration and residential centers.
In terms of urban planning, the area is a piece of the reconfiguration of the Valdarno’s landscape. The site’s complexity, the lay of its land, the vicinity to the Arno and being crossed by the Borro della Fornacina channel all led to a number of considerations meant to place the architecture in an organic relationship with the site. The roofs are green and connect with the land to form new contours, an artificial land configuration made of walled terraces. The design of the public space and its two squares designates ground-level spaces for small retail businesses and public services, extending the natural pedestrian thoroughfare to the historic center; the role of the rampart is important as a mark remembering the historic manufacturing business. The volume covers from the 4th to the 6/7th floor with a series of terraces that are arranged in a curved staggered configuration that shapes a new artificial landscape next to the hill.