CASA BFF Milan

Nesite raised floors in Bologna’s Tecnopolo, a scientific hub of excellence that hosts research activities and prestigious infrastructures such as ECMWF (European Centre for Meteorological Forecasting), INFN (National Institute of Nuclear Physics), CINECA and the Leonardo supercomputer.

THE PROJECT.

Tecnopolo is a virtuous redevelopment project, now the beating heart of Bologna’s Data Valley and science city dedicated to innovation and experimentation for industrial research, with high-performance computing infrastructure among the most powerful in the world.

Its construction involved the conversion of the former Tobacco Factory, a 1952 building designed by Pier Luigi Nervi, preserving its architectural memory. In fact, the complex, declared to be of historical and artistic interest and protected by the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage, was integrated in a coherent way with the new buildings, recovering and enhancing the original building. The special attention to environmental impact also led to LEED v.4 for BD+C certification.

WHY THE RAISED FLOOR.

The use of the Nesite raised floor is mainly related to the building that houses CINECA and the Leonardo supercomputer, for which we designed an earthquake-resistant system that can cope with extreme load requirements.

In fact, the floor allows for a maximum distributed load of 30 kN/sqm, or about 3,060 kg/sqm, higher than that provided for the highest class (>12 kN) by current regulations regarding the performance of raised floors.

Specifically, the realized solution is designed to support the load of the more than 150 racks with a total weight of more than 340 tons, while the underfloor cavity allows the passage of about 156 km of cables. The load-bearing structure, on the other hand, reports seismic calculations and special ultra-high-strength stringers.