RENOVATION OF THE ENEL TEODORA POWER STATION PORTO CORSINI, RAVENNA, ITALY, 2000-2005

In the early years of the new millennium, the Enel (the Italian electricity Board) power stations were converted from dense oil combustion to methane. Their technological renovation entailed revamping the Board’s image and improving the environmental impact of its power stations. The plant at Porto Corisini in Ravenna is a ‘historic’ one, designed in the late 1950s by Ignazio Gardella. New offices with a long undulating glazed front substituted the existing ones which were too badly damaged and neglected to warrant restoration. It was also necessary to demolish part of the old machine room, where only two of the original turbines were kept operational. Added from scratch were two twin production facilities, aligned to the tall smokestacks and each composed of a steam generator and of a building for the alternators and turbines. One third of the smokestacks is clad with Lexan rings and, in the lower part, lined with a secondary structure that envelops the steam generator up till its connection with the turbogas building. To blend the systems into the landscape, a colour plan was applied. This was inspired by the tonalities of the ground, for the low structures, and by the sky, for the elevations.

PROJECT aMDL Architetto Michele De Lucchi Srl - Michele De Lucchi

PROJECT TEAM Daniele Rossi (project leader), Carlo De Mattia, Michele Marozzini

CONSULTANTS Enel Power (structural framework and building contractor); Cosmeci, Selp, Bayer Polymers Sheet Europe (furniture)

CLIENT Enel Produzione

AREA 10.000 m2

CHRONOLOGY 2000-2004 design; 2005 completion

PHOTOGRAPHY Gabriele Basilico