In Rome, the urban master plan surrounding the innovation HUB, home to IT’S and Parallel Digital headquarters, symbolises a new way of thinking about architecture. Located near Tiburtina station, in a district undergoing rapid change, the new HUB is a place open to the demands of contemporary society and new technology. In an industrial area of about 5000 sq m, the project involves transforming some existing buildings and demolishing others to construct new facilities to house the headquarters of start-ups, innovative companies, and fab-labs.

IT’S new headquarters is a veritable HUB that is home to a variety of businesses in the construction, mobility, infrastructure and digital sectors for the purpose of developing research projects.

The three-storey building stands in a former industrial area adjacent to Tiburtina station at an elevation about 10 metres higher than Via di Portonaccio, which it overlooks. The site sits on a complex network of tuff caves that were used as shelters during World War II. The project was used by IT’S as a case study for both process management, full BIM, and the use of prefabrication. This reduced the construction time – 6 months including the micropile foundations – and enabled control of the technical quality of the building and its costs.

Thanks to the techniques used, the building achieves very high energy-saving standards. The roof solar panels make it a zero-energy building. The structure is made of wood; the XLAM load-bearing walls were built in four weeks. The external cladding is made of aluminium. The IT’S Hub is a new landmark for a small area of the city that is attempting to rebuild its own post-industrial identity.