Urban regeneration – Merlata Bloom Milano
Arcadis, a leading global company delivering sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets, has successfully delivered Merlata Bloom Milano located within the city of Milan, Italy for client Merlata Mall S.p.A.
The Architecture and Urbanism division at Arcadis in collaboration with Rossetti Engineering, were responsible for providing the architecture and design service for Merlata Bloom Milano, which was developed to be the connector and catalyst in between Milan’s innovation district (MIND), university accommodation, the Milan Fair RHO and the thriving Cascina Merlata neighbourhood. Once completed, Merlata Bloom Milano brought together an extraordinary urban regeneration project with a vision of the future that goes far beyond the boundaries of traditional retail real estate.
The site of Merlata Bloom Milano came with high complexity and challenging disconnected plots, so the Architecture and Urbanism team at Arcadis created a South facing elongated wintergarden/bridge link, maximising the visual connection to the park while establishing a seamless connection in between the sites. The project was carefully designed to respond to climate, daylight and customers, through the use of parametric and analytical tools during the design process in collaboration with computational and sustainability experts, as well as a number of academics.
Renewable energy is generated via photovoltaic panels and geothermal wells, while a building management system was introduced to guarantee maximum efficiency along with a system that accounts for individual consumption and a water recovery tank for duel net. Merlata Bloom Milano is also equipped with a monitoring system for optimal energy consumption management and CO2 emission control, which ensures compliance with the definitive emission parameters of the European Economy until 2050.
Cascina Merlata is a new district of Milan and part of the 15 minutes cities strategy. Merlata Bloom Milano is a living space where even shopping becomes an exclusive experience. The retail complex combines the use of the most advanced technological and digital tools with the desire to have a positive impact on the environment, promoting biodiversity and responsible consumption. Merlata Bloom Milano features an innovative and accessible 20,000 sq m public garden on the roof of one of the main structures, which follows the best standards of modern urban planning in terms of materials usage and energy sources, and is also part of Milan’s overall low carbon building strategy. The ground floor comprises a mix of special merchandising with a unique range of original brands and experimental stores. The first floor focuses on the world of fashion with a high-end product range and a premium level area. The east wing of Merlata Bloom Milano comprises a wide leisure area with new experimental formats and is also the home to a latest generation multiplex cinema.
Merlata Bloom Milano has earned a large interest and appreciation amongst the local community, attracting a substantial number of visitors whose spendings contribute to the surrounding areas. Following the successful launch of Merlata Bloom Milano, it attracted over 1 million visitors within the first month of opening.
Merlata Bloom Milano is an excellent example of Arcadis’ work in value add, neighbourhood regeneration, sustainable mixed-use developments and retail regeneration with a passion and vision alongside the drive to digitilisation and the will to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world.
ABOUT ARCADIS
Arcadis is the world’s leading company delivering data-driven sustainable design, engineering, and consultancy solutions for natural and built assets. We are more than 36,000 architects, data analysts, designers, engineers, project planners, water management and sustainability experts, all driven by our passion for improving quality of life. As part of our commitment to accelerating a planet positive future, we work with our clients to make sustainable project choices, combining digital and human innovation, and embracing future-focused skills across the environment, energy and water, buildings, transport, and infrastructure sectors. We operate in over 30 countries, and in 2023 reported €5.0 billion in gross revenues. www.arcadis.com
