SOCIAL HOUSING

An abandoned building in the Parish church of San Martino in Greco in Milan becomes an innovative poly -functional building meeting social care needs. This building also provides cohousing. Driven by a sound underlying ideal: as well as embracing diversity we can valorise it through integration with the community.
On the ground floor are the kitchen and dining areas. The kitchen of M’ama food, a catering project run by the Farsi prossimo cooperative, employs a hundred women refugees who are thus able to both earn a living and pass on their culinary traditions. On the first floor there are two housing units, while on the second floor there is one, which also extends to the third floor, designed to be a communal space for differently abled people and a residential unit. The apartments feature large, bright spaces, stylishly furnished and with a touch of technology to simplify everyday life.
Materials used on the exterior imitate the plasterwork of the historical complex this building is part of, as do the walkways in the inner courtyard, the roof finish, the building base and all external fixtures.

Environmental sustainability.
Materials and technical expedients were implemented to reduce heat loss and energy waste and highly complex plants using advanced technology were installed.
The housing units were equipped with VMC heat recovery systems, such as the Daikin VAM, which recovers heat efficiently in both winter and summer months. As well as being particularly efficient this system guarantees an elevated and consistent quality of air inside the home. The ACS heating system uses a solar-assisted heat pump with two 550 litre tanks.
Thermal input is integrated, where necessary, by a shared condensing boiler which was already in place and used by the church and nursery school which form part of the same complex.
Hot water for bathing is provided in direct exchange with the technical water contained in the two tanks. This means that the water does not accumulate at a temperature that might enable the spread of bacterial contamination but is produced instantly when needed, guaranteeing an initial barrier of protection.
The heat pump also cools the air in summer months, inverting the cycle. The fan coil system allows temperatures and degrees of humidity to be reached relatively rapidly. The same pumps can be used in winter months to heat rooms quickly, even after they have been idle for a period.
Each housing unit is equipped with its own meter that can calculate the exact amount of energy used for heating, for refrigeration and for hot and cold bathing water. This enables shared energy bills to be divided up fairly.
Fluids are distributed by high efficiency electronic pumps.