The development of the LIDL ITALIA commercial building (retail store) was guided by principles of rational design, with the aim of maximising the functional efficiency of the structure.
The intervention involved the structural and architectural renovation of the building to create a new retail unit (supermarket) with a covered car park on the first floor.
The building is located within the urban centre and has no external open area. It consists of an “L”-shaped structure, part of an architectural complex originally built in 1953 to house the Trieste branch of FIAT, and later renovated in 1985 when it became the headquarters of the newspaper “Il Piccolo”.
The main building is divided into three adjacent sections, hereafter referred to as the Front Block, Central Block, and Rear Block.
The works included the reconfiguration of internal layouts both on the ground floor, to adapt the spaces to their new use as a retail store, and on the first floor, where the parking facility serving the supermarket was created. In addition, in the Front Block, a new entrance was built, including new lifts and a staircase providing access to the upper floors.
During construction, the above-ground structural elements were largely rebuilt, with the exception of the façade facing Via Campo Marzio, which was preserved in order to enhance the historical value of the Trieste building.
At the rear of the building, a new goods lift shaft and a new vehicular entrance were constructed to provide access to the first-floor car park.
In the Central Block, structural reinforcements were carried out using advanced carbon fibre systems, and the supermarket parking area was created.
Finally, in the Front Block, new vertical circulation cores were introduced, together with additional seismic-resistant elements and steel reinforcement structures for the main façade.
