A Year in Milan

27 March 2024

At the start of 2024, we celebrated a remarkable first year for our Milan office, characterised through a series of key milestones and exciting achievements.

People
Our Milan team has grown consistently over the past year, with the team reaching eight staff following some active recruitment at the beginning of 2024. The group is composed of brilliant engineers that share the passion for their work as well as social team bonding.

From thrilling summer rafting excursions in Val Sesia to festive Christmas parties in London, the office celebrated its achievements and strengthened bonds. Training trips with industry partners like SCHÜCO and Reynaers, coupled with lunch and learn sessions, further facilitated knowledge exchange and provided valuable training opportunities.

Projects
2023 saw a series of transformative projects secured by Eckersley O’Callaghan’s Milan office. Projects that seamlessly blend engineering with architectural elegance.

Our collaborations with Cino Zucchi Architetti and Mpartner on the iconic IED Ex Macello and Cavallerizza Reale di Torino, confirm our strong inclination towards projects that aim to promote reuse and revitalisation of existing urban assets. We continue to support Oneworks: on a residential scheme in Rome, Via del Serafico. A large retail scheme in the outskirts of Milan testifies our adaptability to different project scales and types, as does the redevelopment of Florence Airport, a project with Rafael Viñoly Architects. Our collaboration with AMDL CIRCLE on two confidential schemes in the centre of Milan brings together two of the most significant Eckersley O’Callaghan trademarks: design led engineering and heritage projects.

Our commitment to sustainability is evidenced by our partnership with eFM in a series of collaborations conducted for a number of their clients. These projects involve undertaking building audits to propose differing levels of interventions to maximise the effectiveness of the refurbishment strategy.

Building up on the experience of the senior members of the Milan team, the office also successfully handled delicate forensic engineering jobs, underscoring its ability to tackle intricate challenges with discretion and expertise.

The team took part in multiple design competitions, including Rome Science Museum with Studio Transit, Nuovo Ospedale di Cremona with Park Associati and several other private competitions with notable local clients.

While busy on local projects, our team showcased its malleability and international design influence. Contributions with our offices in London, Manchester, LA, Sydney and Delhi highlight the studio’s flexibility and capacity to extend its expertise to diverse corners of the globe, including the not-so-far Greek and Southern European area, where, following the recently completed Piraeus Tower, Eckersley O’Callaghan is currently actively involved in a number of high profile schemes.

Knowledge Sharing
Through publications and partnerships, the Milan team contributed valuable insights to the Italian construction industry. We published two articles in Arketipo Magazine, sharing off-site construction methods adopted for our projects Norton Folgate and Woolbeding Glasshouse. We also partnered with industry professionals to support the launch of Energiesprong Italy with EDERA, by writing part of their first design guide on off-site sustainable construction for retrofit projects.

Office lead Alessandro Baldini actively contributed at various industry events: From ESG discussions at Perspective Venice 2023, organised by The Plan Magazine, to moderating panels on sustainable facade design at ZAK World of Facades’ first Italian event. Associate Chiara Tosi, board member at the Society of Facade Engineering Italian Hub, contributed to sparking engagement within the Italian facade engineering industry, thanks to the coordination of a series of events, seminars and talks across Milan. Seminars at the Fondazione Ordine degli Architetti Milano and Politecnico di Torino further emphasised the team’s role in sharing knowledge and supporting learning.

As Eckersley O’Callaghan’s Milan group celebrates its first year of activity, we all look forward to further growth, innovation, and collaboration as the office remains dedicated to engineering brilliance and groundbreaking achievements in the context of the Italian and Southern European construction industry.

Read more about Milan: Meet… Our Milan Office