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The Sports City in Lecce will ensure a sustainable future for the whole Salento region

Laboratorio di Architettura Semerano

Sport&Leisure  /  Future
Laboratorio di Architettura Semerano

“This project is not a dream, but a vision, the vision of a sustainable future for Lecce and the whole Salento region, a sports city where the stadium is transformed into a complex with multiple covered spaces, dedicated to different sports disciplines such as pools, gyms, and training grounds”. A place that will use renewable energy sources: thermal photovoltaics integrated with hydrogen and geothermal production. In addition to powering the sports equipment, the produced energy will permit the construction of an important hydroponic farm: another step towards a bright near-future for the Salento. The organic production plantation will provide within its 500 square meters what corresponds to 5 hectares of land: with this project Lecce becomes one of the first examples in Italy of an integrated fossil free energies system. STADIUM PROJECT The first intervention, beside satisfying the needs of all planned sports activities, is planned to produce energy that will be fed into the grid. The installation of photovoltaic panels will be placed on the new roof of the stadium. Once completed, it will house all the lighting systems and guarantee extraordinary seating. It will be possible to improve the use of the stadium with a makeover of the lower tiers which could extend to take-over the space once occupied by the athletics track. Like in all modern stadium projects, parking spaces connected to the stadium will be allocated to the teams and law enforcement agents, while the general public will have an assigned large parking area beyond the Lecce - San Cataldo Road. This parking area is connected through an over-bridge to the stadium and can be used during the week as a stop-over for public transportation; it will also have a service station for hydrogen refueling. Great attention is also paid to entrances and exits especially during emergency situations. SPORTS CITY The sports city develops from -7 meters below street level, where a few training fields are present, the sloping roof will allow reaching an internal useful height of 15 meters. The sports complex is developed in three macro areas: - The swimming complex which includes an Olympic swimming pool; several training pools and a diving area with diving boards [of 3- and 10-meters height]; the stands: allowing the development of sporting and competitive events of significant importance. - The "first arena" is mainly dedicated to basketball, volleyball and handball, and is equipped with mobile stands allowing the conversion of the space. - The "second arena" allows various forms of sport, such as artistic gymnastics and martial arts, in addition to hosting musical events and performances. To complete the complex, an area was allocated to create a vertical farm with adjoining restaurant areas, bars and even a hotel. The possibility of creating such a structure has a strong symbolic component, indicating the new focus on a sustainable future that includes land saving, limited water consumption and an organic nutrition. A large multi-storey parking area favors these activities. GREEN SOLAR PARK The GREEN SOLAR PARK was designed and envisioned as an Active complex, and not a Passive one from an energy point of view; hence it was decided to allocate the flat surfaces of the roof structure of the stands of the Green Solar Stadium to the installation of a multi-megawatt photovoltaic system, with a power of approx. 4 MW, on an available approx. area of 25,000 square meters, on the South-West and East stadium coverage, which will be more than enough to meet the electricity needs from renewable sources of the entire new complex; the photovoltaic system will be able to produce up to approximately 6 million kWh /year of electricity. The construction of a multi-storey underground car park -on the west side (2 underground floors planned) which connects via a pedestrian / cycle bridge to a parking area, located on the south side, beyond the "Lecce-San Cataldo" road- completes the Green Solar Stadium project. On the west side of the car park, a refueling station for “clean” hydrogen gas will be built, i.e., produced with electricity from renewable sources. The refueling station will be accessible to buses and hydrogen-powered vehicles; in the service station and in the car park there will be electric charging columns, dedicated to e-bikes and velocipedes [cycles] in general. To the west side of the Green Solar Stadium, an underground Green Sport Town composed of two sports complexes and one amphitheater to host sporting events is planned. The futuristic systems of the Green Sport Town will be powered by the electricity produced by the photovoltaic system of the Green Solar Stadium as well. The first sports complex of the Green Sport Town will be of aquatic nature and foresees the construction of an Olympic swimming pool, and two swimming pools dedicated to physical education sports activities (including diving), as well as toilets and technical rooms. The Green Solar Park will be completed with the construction of a Green Vertical Farm which will be built on the west area of the Green Sport Town, within which a hydroponic farm is in plan; the Green Vertical Farm will have the particularity of being electrically powered by a thermal photovoltaic system (TPV) built on the roof and on the south facade of the tower building, as well as on part of the roof of the longitudinal building, on an area of approx. 6,000 square meters, and for an electrical power of approx. 1 MW and a thermal power of approx. 2 MW.

Credits

 Lecce
 Italia
 Privato
 06/2026
 200000 mq
 Toti Semerano
 Stefano Sabato, Riccardo Catamo, Salvatore Musarò, Ludovica Fava,
 Ing. Daniele Palano

Curriculum

Recent awards. Winner of 2021 The Plan Landscape with the project Renovation of Punta Meliso, Santa Maria di Leuca, Winner of the Pida 2020 Prize in the Stella Maris Hotel Project category, winner in the "The Plan Award 2020" category Future public space, Otranto rocky ridge project, 2019 EU Finalist Mies Van der Rohe Prize Atelier Bagnoli project, 2019 The Plan Award winner in the Future category Office and Business, winner 2018 The Plan Award category Future Housing Project Residenza Sansovino, winner 2018 The Plan Award category Future Mixed-use project Residence Office Center The Plan Award 2017 Honorable Mention - "Culture" category, The Plan Award 2015 - category "Special Projects", Ask 2012 - Lifetime Achievement Award, Merit Award - Competition "Taiwan Towers Conceptual Design Competition" 2010, International Architecture Biennial Barbara Cappochin 2009 Award for the Care of Architectural Detail Elements.

https://www.semerano.com


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