Consorzio Agrario
Adaptive Reuse meets Student Living in Milan
Park redefines the conventional approach to student housing by breathing new life into Milan’s former Agricultural Consortium. This adaptive reuse project preserves the legacy of a 1940s industrial landmark while establishing a vibrant community for over 700 students in Via Ripamonti. Working within the site’s rich historical context, the studio has crafted a sophisticated dialogue between past and present. Park’s vision was to honour the building’s industrial heritage while designing spaces that foster both learning and community. Rather than erasing the past, the studio allowed it to shape new possibilities for student living.
- LocationMilan
- ClientHines Italy, Prelios
- StatusCompleted
- Year2024
- Area32000 m²
- Energy certificationsLEED Gold
- Design team
Founding Partners: Filippo Pagliani, Michele Rossi | Project Directors: Marco Panzeri, Davide Viganò | Architects: Elisa Borghi, Simone Caimi, Gloria Caiti, Erica Fassi, Andrea Riva, Alessandro Rossi, Ismail Seleit, Irene Seracca Guerrieri, Enrico Sterle, Alice Cuteri | Visualizer: Fabio Calciati, Mario Frusca, Stefano Venegoni | Graphic designer: Marinella Ferrari
- CreditsPhotos by Nicola Colella ; Courtesy by Hines
The design embraces contrast. The original building retains its powerful industrial presence through grey plaster and sandstone, now topped with a contemporary volume that appears to float above the historic façade. Adjacent to it, a new extension rises with its own distinct identity, offering a harmonious counterpoint through a rhythmic interplay of glass and metal.
Between these two volumes lies the heart of the project – a courtyard conceived as an outdoor living room for the student community. This space blurs the line between study and leisure, offering green areas for relaxation alongside facilities for sport and social interaction. The goal was to create a place where students can move fluidly between focused study and spontaneous connection.
A vibrant staircase leads to a basement level housing a cinema, music rooms, and a large multi-purpose space, while the ground floor offers fluid environments for studying, meeting, and exchanging ideas. Custom-designed furnishings in wood and bold colours bring warmth to the industrial setting, creating intimate moments within the larger whole.
In the basement of the existing building, users can make use of various services: a fully-equipped gym, a gaming area, a cinema, a music room and a large multi-purpose room for events, which is also open to the public. The upper floors too feature study rooms and communal terraces dedicated to conviviality and sport, such as the spectacular basketball court located on the fourth floor of the new building.
In the residential areas, architectural constraints have been transformed into design opportunities. Each unit—whether a cosy single room or an innovative duplex studio—balances privacy with community. The cluster apartments offer a particularly forward-thinking solution: small residential communities of 8 to 12 students who share common areas while maintaining private quarters. On the upper floors, study rooms and communal terraces offer expansive views over Milan. A surprising feature is found on the fourth floor of the new building: a basketball court that turns sport into a celebration of collective life.
More than just student housing, this project is about creating a place where Milan’s industrial heritage becomes the stage for new ways of living and learning—where historical memory and contemporary life are in constant conversation.
