The Olympic Village of Beijing 2022, obtained from the renovation of a former steel mill, speaks Italian: Laminam dresses the external facades of the athletes' home

South of the National Olympic Sports Center, the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Village, which for 53 days will welcome athletes who have arrived in the Chinese capital to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, is the result of the renovation of a former steel mill in the heart of the industrial district Beijing and consists of 50 buildings used for various services.

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An old steel mill

The construction of the complex, which began in September 2018 and finished in mid-2021, followed the project of the architect Bo Hongtao who, in the renovation of the old factory in Shougang, wanted to explore the solutions of contemporary architecture by grasping the heritage of the industrial site existing. “The Olympic Village project rests on three pillars: continuity, innovation and sustainability,” said Bo Hongtao.

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The research of materials

“In the research of the materials I didn't have great doubts about the choice”, continues the designer. "If on the one hand, in fact, steel represented the most consistent aesthetic solution, on the other I could not count on its reliability in terms of resistance to atmospheric agents. Excluding the glass due to its excessive heaviness, I found the stylistic and functional characteristics I was looking for in the Laminam slabs, primarily their lightness and materiality. The particular Oxide Moro texture generates extraordinary plays of light that end up giving further prominence to the entire complex ".

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The environmental impact

The Olympic Village was therefore born from the conservation of the original steel and concrete structure, enriched by landscaped corridors that link the internal and external scenery. In a game of recovery and addition, the project enhances the original site, revisiting it in a modern and sustainable way, as required by government guidelines aimed at calculating the environmental impact of each building construction.

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Conservation and innovation

Laminam's intervention fits into this perspective of conservation and innovation. 20 thousand square meters of ceramic surfaces cover the exterior of the Olympic Village dedicated to athletes from all over the world. Large slabs of Laminam 3+ thickness defy gravity with their lightness: the Oxide Moro texture with its three-dimensional metallic effect conveys an elegant urban style.

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Cutting-edge technology

If, in fact, from an aesthetic point of view, the ceramic coatings chosen for the external facades wink at the mood of the neighborhood, on the other hand their characteristics represent the business card of a cutting-edge technological frontier. The Laminam slabs of large size 1000x3000 mm and the reduced thickness of Laminam 3+ combine high resistance to mechanical stress, chemicals, wear, scratches and deep abrasion.

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Metallic look

In addition, they are hygienic, resistant to frost, mold and UV rays. Placed in the Moro color of the Oxide series, they simulate the effects that atmospheric agents have on iron, creating suggestions of materiality enhanced by the play of light. A texture resulting from an aesthetic research that combines decorative technologies enriched with natural pigments with a metallic look.

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