Architectural works of Rapallo waste water treatment plant, Genoa

• Water treatment plant, Rapallo, Genoa
• Water treatment plant, Rapallo, Genoa
• Water treatment plant, Rapallo, Genoa
• Water treatment plant, Rapallo, Genoa
• Water treatment plant, Rapallo, Genoa
• Water treatment plant, Rapallo, Genoa
• Water treatment plant, Rapallo, Genoa
• Water treatment plant, Rapallo, Genoa

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 The area identified for the new Waste Water Treatment Plant of Rapallo (Genoa) is a valley in locality Ronco, accessible by an unpaved road placed in the right bank of torrent Boate, in place of the shed called ‘Viacava’.
The designers of the system required a building in the shape of a parallelepiped, with plan dimensions of 66 x 24.5 m and a height of about 17 m, of which the lower part occupied by tanks and the upper destined to machinery. The plant also had to be equipped with rooms used as offices, changing rooms and toilets, some with their own specific characteristics.
The architectural design of the waste water treatment plant aims at the inclusion of the new plant in the context and at mitigating its impact on the landscape, identifying as main objectives the respect of cultural and historical characteristics of the territory and the protection of the visual perception of the places subject of intervention. The adaptation to the natural morphology of the site constituted the first project theme: the main building containing the plant and the vehicular paths surrounding it are in fact provided partly underground and partly embedded between the two sides of the valley. In this way, in addition to limiting the amount of volume emerging, it is possible to refill in part the morphological continuity of the hillside, interrupted by excavation, via the carry-over of excavated soil and the predisposition of a continuous turf above the covering.
A second project theme consisted in stressing the distinction between the two areas, “operational” and “administrative”. In this sense, the project foresees a further volume, emerging above the roof of the building and positioned on the front side, towards the river. The administrative spaces will have a separate entrance, with its stairs and lifts, directly accessible from the road, constituting an independent volume connected with the main building and in particular with the “office building” via a covered walkway.
The front facing the river building has been interpreted as a “façade” to the city, with the aim to appoint an infrastructure, which is often perceived as degrading, to the positive role of valorization factor.