Palermo, Italy

The French-Italian team, Leclercq Associés architectes urbanistes along with Nicolas Laisné Architectes, Clément Blanchet architecture, Tekne ingénierie, and Base paysagiste, have won the international competition for Sicily’s new administrative center, in Palermo, Italy.

The proposal for the €270m Centro Direzionale Regione Sicilia is driven by an urban reflection and geared towards new uses and environmental issues.

According to Nello Musumeci, President of the Sicilian Region, “the Centro Direzionale Regione Sicilia is conceived as a peaceful and accessible place, with flexible working spaces and meeting places for the Regione’s employees with large cafe terraces and eateries to welcome all citizen.”

The project will be the largest public facility built in the area in the last 50 years.

Located at the heart of the Sicilian capital, the metropolitan center takes on several buildings, organized around a central axis and three squares, variations based on Mediterranean urban models.

The plan is to build three squares that combine offices with a range of amenities, including shops, eateries, a wellness center, a sports facility, a church and a nursery.

Ground floors are animated with local shops and a variety of programs for everyone. Oriented towards contemporary Mediterranean buildings, as Nicolas Laisné states, the proposal puts in place structures made of wood and steel, adorned with stone sourced from various Sicilian quarries.

Situated according to the direction of the summer and winter winds, to provide natural coolness, the project’s design was guided by environmental aspects. In addition, the choice of vegetation was made in order to help combat the effects of urban heat islands.

A hanging garden, to be called il nuovo orizzonte (the new horizon) will offer views of the sea and the Sicilian mountains.

“An architecture/territory, between city, sea, and mountain, connected to the public practice of the natural soil, and to the discovery of the Sicilian horizons with breathtaking views,”

François Leclercq

“An element of a Mediterranean city; intense, with its squares and vibrant ground floors, as alive for its users as its inhabitants. The project will radiate throughout the district, the city, and the country.”

“Instead of designing isolated or solitary architectures, we propose an urban arrangement, anchored to the ground,” states Clément Blanchet.

“The volumes and interconnections offer a three-dimensional experience to the project, encouraging social and human encounters. A metropolitan hanging garden is created to offer a unique view of Palermo.”

Project: Centro Direzionale Regione Sicilia
Representative Architects: Leclercq Associés, architectes urban planners
Architects: Nicolas Laisné Architects,
Architects: Clément Blanchet Architecture
Landscape Architects: Base paysagiste
Engineers: Tekne ingénierie
Artistic Programming: Manifesto
Client: Région de Sicile