The project was developed within the Construction course during the first year of the master’s degree program, in response to the request to reinterpret the area of the Ospedale Maggiore della Carità in Novara, which had recently been relocated. The assignment was to transform the former hospital site into a new urban hub composed of student housing, a multifunctional building with additional residences, and a sports facility.

The concept emerged from the directional lines defined by the surrounding buildings and from the intention to give the block a new sense of centrality. The presence of the facade of a still active church at the heart of the area represented both a constraint and an opportunity: alignments, open spaces, and permeabilities were rethought to create a new diffuse square, a place for gathering both indoors and outdoors.

The project is composed of three main volumes that interact through consistent forms and materials.

1. The building on the right

This is the largest volume. The ground floor hosts a skatepark and various informal spaces for youth gathering, enhancing social interaction. The upper floors accommodate residences with double exposure and habitable access balconies designed not only as circulation areas but as real spaces for social interaction.

2. The building on the left
This is a student residence that follows the same architectural typology as the first building, maintaining the same distribution logic and formal language.

3. The central building
This volume contains the gym and, while maintaining material coherence with the rest of the complex, is characterized by a more compact and functional configuration suited to its specific use.

All the buildings are clad in polycarbonate, a material that transforms the complex into a series of urban lanterns at night, while during the day it provides a translucent effect that brings abundant natural light into the interiors. In the first two buildings, the access balconies are defined by lightweight structures made of tubi Innocenti, adding a technical industrial character to the overall aesthetic. The gym does not include this element, yet retains the polycarbonate cladding as a unifying feature.