Building De Castillia 23 Wins the Award of Excellence 2022

12/12/2022 - Active Surfaces® ceramics supplied by Fiandre Architectural Surfaces gives their contribute to the realisation of the project De Castilla 23 by Progetto CMR, recently honoured with the Award of Excellence by 2022 CTBUH - Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat in Chicago.

The prestigious US research institute founded in 1969 to analyse and interpret the rapid changes in progress in tall building design and engineering, has assigned the Award of Excellence 2022 to the building De Castillia 23 in Milan, in the “Best Tall Building under 100 meters” category.

Every year, skyscrapers all over the world are selected by a special jury according to the requisites of excellence, innovation and creativity, and compete as finalists in their related award categories.
As underlined by Karl Fender, Chairman of the Best Tall Building jury and founding partner of the firm Fender Katsalidis Architects, the selected architectures are virtuous examples of the concepts of “sustainable vertical urbanism” promoted by the CTBUH. The De Castillia 23 project, owned by the Unipol Group and redeveloped by Progetto CRM, has brought an old building in the Isola district of Milan back to life years after it was abandoned and left unfinished, returning to the city an example of innovation with two buildings 53 and 15 metres high. Progetto CMR - Italian leader in integrated design which enhanced the functions, energy performance and overall efficiency of the building, while revolutionising its purely aesthetic aspects. A key element of the project is the prismatic façade with triangular windows creating a rhombus pattern that gives it a dynamic, living appeal: each one is at a different angle, creating games of light depending on how they are hit by the sun.

For the external façade, Progetto CMR wanted a pale background to reflect the light, in contrast with a darker colour. And the choice fell on the eco-active porcelain Active Surfaces® by Fiandre Architectural Surfaces, specifically Core Shade surfaces in textures Cloudy Core Active and Sharp Core Active. The ceramics were applied using the Granitech® ventilated façade system with visible joints, a solution that guarantees long life especially for tall buildings, along with durability of the walls and energy efficiency. An air gap between the wall and the covering promotes natural ventilation, offering significant benefits in removing heat and humidity while assuring high interior comfort. This also eliminates thermal bridges, bringing energy savings and increasing the efficiency of the outer insulation, which remains perfectly dry thanks to the optimal ventilation.

The decision was made to use porcelain stoneware both for the façades and the terraces and outdoor paved areas due to its beautiful appearance, high technical performance and lasting strength of the material. Today, the issue of vertical urbanism poses new problems to be tackled, linked particularly to sustainability and the fight against the effects of climate change. The buildings nominated for the Award of Excellence must ensure perfect harmony between their architectural form, structure and construction systems, and must meet the requisites of sustainable design that preserves the quality of the environment and the urban landscape. De Castillia 23, designed entirely using BIM, is an example of green and sustainable architecture, using photovoltaic and geothermal systems to produce heat and energy, also thanks to the choice of coverings in porcelain stoneware, a natural material produced in Zero Emissions production plants. Active Surfaces® ceramics in textures Cloudy Core Active and Sharp Core Active by Fiandre Architectural Surfaces are “eco-active”: these surfaces have antibacterial, antiviral, anti- pollution and anti-odour properties, and are easily cleaned and sanitised simply by rainwater. According to the Department of Chemistry at the University of Milan, the 16088 m2 of special Active ceramics, installed in this project, are able to compensate 59 kg/year of nitrogen oxide, equivalent to over 200,000 m2 of green areas, bringing huge benefits to both the building’s inhabitants and the people who live in the neighbourhood. This estimation has earned De Castillia 23 the reputation of being a “smog-eating” building.

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