Perimetro

Perimetro involves the renovation of the outdoor spaces surrounding a productive textile warehouse in Montemurlo (Prato, Italy). Except for some rows of trees, the entire area is cemented and built. External areas are mostly treated as loading or storage yards, and generally no facilities are provided for people working in the factories.

The project starts from the conception of the industrial site as a part of the city, a fragment of a complex and wider system, not merely a piece of land to be exploited. A green perimeter where nature-based solutions concur to the transformation of the site into a socially and environmentally sustainable one.

The alternation of parking and logistics with green areas equipped to work, meet and have lunch offers new possible uses of the external areas and, together with the use of porous paving, increases water infiltration drastically (from 17% to 40% of the entire plot). Outside the office building, a paved public square like area is arranged, defining a proper and clear access to the factory.

An important driver behind the planting strategy was the will to create a strong sense of living nature minimizing maintenance and irrigation expenses introducing 69 new trees of 12 different species. To create optimal opportunities for biodiversity, rocks coming from the excavated soil and the trunks of trees, which were necessary to cut on-site, have been reused for the gardens along the perimeter, becoming excellent refuges for numerous species of insects and other animals.

A black expanded metal mesh fence surrounds the lot contrasting with the trees and the bricks of the facade and allowing a glimpse inside the renewed areas.