Platys Centre

Located close to the heart of Verona, Platys is a sports and entertainment centre on a former industrial site. Architect Magnoli & Partners designed a scheme that combines leisure facilities with aesthetics and eco-credentials. The site is a nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) and is Europe’s first sports centre to achieve Silver SITES® certification from Green Business Certification Inc (GBCI). The scheme uses stone wool insulated sandwich panels for thermal efficiency, acoustic performance and circularity.

You can find this case study in the reference book “Building with stone wool insulated sandwich panels”, authored by Professor Imperadori. Learn more and access the book here.

A sustainable building envelope

Platys was developed as a year-round sports and wellbeing centre for the people of Verona. Sports facilities include padel, beach volleyball and football pitches, as well as trampoline fitness, a gym and an outdoor pool. It also features an outdoor theatre, restaurant, pizzeria, roof terrace, changing rooms and events spaces.

Sustainability is central to the design, and is shown through nZEB and SITES® certifications. Architect Magnoli & Partners created the site to produce more energy than it consumes. Smart building technology adjusts ventilation and lighting in response to changing conditions.

Multiple benefits of sandwich panel systems

Stone wool insulated sandwich panels provide multiple benefits at Platys: thermal and acoustic performance, and weatherproofing. They are used to prevent loss of heating and cooling energy in the main building as the backing walls in a ventilated façade system. The type of sandwich panel specified was originally developed for roofing and is corrugated for stiffness, with the corrugations installed vertically at Platys.

Cradle to new cradle

Circularity of materials was a key factor in the Platys centre achieving sustainability certifications. The scheme was designed to minimize consumption of resources and raw materials.
Magnoli & Partners specified recycled and recyclable materials that meet the principle of “cradle to new cradle”, which has the goal of protecting the Earth’s resources. This principle ran through project procurement and design, as shown by the modularity of components produced off-site, such as steel structural elements and sandwich panels.

Digital technology

Digital technology was used extensively during the project.
Three-dimensional Building Information Modelling (BIM) enabled precise design, specification and manufacture for straightforward assembly on site. For example, both the structural steelwork and acoustic roofing panels were based on a structural approach to fit for the sports courts.

The digital approach also provided oversight and planning of future management and maintenance activities. Building Energy Modelling (BEM) was used to model energy consumption and generation, while a Building Energy Management System (BEMS) enables the buildings to respond to changing light and temperature conditions.

Project Data