• 47 groups from 14 nations submitted proposals
• Finalists increased from 5 to 6 in light of the quality of the applications
• Launched the second phase of the competition with the delivery of the masterplans scheduled for the end of March 2021

Milan, 18 January 2021 – COIMA SGR S.p.A. on behalf of Porta Romana Fund – the Reserved Real Estate Alternative Investment Fund participated by COIMA ESG City Impact Fund, Covivio and Prada Holding S.p.A – in agreement with Gruppo FS, and in its capacity as implementer of the International Competition for the preparation of the Masterplan for the regeneration of the Porta Romana railway yard in Milan, announces the shortlisted finalists.

The shortlisted finalists, who will now be required to draw up the masterplan of the Porta Romana railway yard in the second phase of the competition, are:
• BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, Buro Happold, Atelier Ten, MIC - Mobility in Chain, Atelier Verticale, Ubistudio, SCE Project
• Cobe A/S, SD Partners S.R.L., TRM Group S.R.L., AKT II, Hilson Moran, Urban Foresight
• John McAslan + Partners, Meinhardt, Barker Langham, Makower Architects, Urbn’ita, MVVA, ESA Engineering
• OUTCOMIST, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, PLP Architecture, Carlo Ratti Associati, Gross. Max, Nigel Dunnett Studio, Arup, Portland Design, Systematica, Studio Zoppini, Aecom, Land, Artelia
• Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (Europe) LLP – SOM, Michel Desvigne Paysagiste (MDP), TSPOON, Work in Progress srl. (WiP), Drees & Sommer (DRESO), Elisabetta Lazzaro, United Consulting srl
• Studio Paola Viganò, Inside Outside, OFFICE KGDVS, Piovenefabi, Ambiente Italia, F&M Ingegneria, TPS PRO, Antonella Faggiani - Smart Land Srl

The Selection Board is comprised of 7 members, plus 2 deputies:
• President: Gregg Jones (Design Principal, Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects)
• Manfredi Catella (CEO & Founder, COIMA)
• Simona Collarini (Director of General Urban Planning Department, Comune di Milano)
• Alexei Dal Pastro (CEO Italy, Covivio)
• Bruno Finzi (President of the Order of Engineers, Milan Province)
• Carlo Mazzi (President, Prada S.p.A.)
• Laura Montedoro (Associate Professor, Architecture and Urban Studies Department, Politecnico di Milano)

Deputies:
• Ezio Micelli (Full Professor of Estimo and Economic Evaulation of the Projects, Università IUAV di Venezia)
• Carlotta Penati (Counselor of the Order of Engineers, Milan Province).
Single Officer of the competition is Arch. Leopoldo Freyrie.

The competition for the Porta Romana masterplan was launched on 10 December, in conjunction with signing the preliminary contract for the purchase of the Porta Romana area. The judging panel convened for three sessions due to the high number of applications from teams of great quality and experience from all over the world: 47 multidisciplinary groups made up of a total of 329 companies from 14 countries.

At the end of the evaluation, the jury selected the finalists on the basis of the interdisciplinary skills of the working groups, experience in comparable projects and the project methodology presented. The number of finalists, initially expected to be 5 participants, was increased to 6 due to the excellent quality of the applications.

The finalists are invited to participate in the second phase of the competition, which will be completed on March 31, 2021 with the subsequent communication of the winning project. The Masterplan selected at the end of the second phase will be the subject of a public debate phase envisaged by the Program Agreement, and of a technical analysis of the observations conducted jointly by the Organizing Body and the Municipality, which will be able to contribute to integrate and elaborate the project presented.

The shortlisted finalists have received guidance, which takes diversified collective and public needs regarding the following aspects, into consideration:
• system of public spaces, services and greenery
• mending and reconnection of the parts of the city now separated from the railway yard thanks to the design of a new accessibility and permeability
• general morphological and settlement structure, with particular regard to the relationship with the surrounding context
• Olympic Village project
• indicative identification of functions qualifying the new public spaces and services to the neighborhood
• definition of a general strategy for the activation of public spaces and the neighborhood.

The competition is part of the Program Agreement signed in 2017 of which the Municipality of Milan, the Lombardy Region, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane (with Rete Ferroviaria Italiana and FS Sistemi Urbani) are part for the redevelopment of the seven disused railway stations (Farini, Porta Romana, Porta Genova, Greco-Breda, Lambrate, Rogoredo, San Cristoforo), which together cover an area of 1 million and 250 thousand square meters of which about 200 thousand will remain as railway functions. This is the largest urban regeneration plan that will affect Milan in the next 20 years, one of the largest projects to mend and enhance the territory in Italy and in Europe. For the Roman railway yard, the building areas are defined in 164,000 square meters of SL, while 50% of the railway yard will be dedicated to green areas and public spaces.

COIMA SGR, Covivio and Prada Holding S.p.A. were awarded the Porta Romana railway yard (an area that covers an area of approximately 190,000 square meters, in addition to the residual portion of 26,000 square meters of the Railways) for 180 million euros. The development includes a large park, which will extend for about 100,000 square meters, around which residences, offices, social housing, student housing and services interconnected to the entire metropolitan area through the railway and subway stations will rise. Inside the railway yard, COIMA will develop the Olympic Village, which at the end of the competitions will be transformed into student housing with about 1,000 beds, the free and subsidized residential component; Covivio will develop office functions and services; Prada Holding S.p.A., mainly interested in the quality of the park, will build a building for laboratory and office use to extend its activities already present in the area.

All information relating to the competition is available at the following link: https://www.coima.com/en/media/news/competition-of-architecture-porta-romana-milan