Architects: Studio Capitanio Architetti, DBmLab
Area: 6,000 m² (including 2,000 m² of new construction)
Year: 2020
Photographs: Studio Capitanio Architetti | DBmLab, Stefano Tacchinardi
MEP Builder: Errebi Impianti Idroterm Romele ITE
Builder: Impresa EdilTre
Window Sytems: Falegnameria Cuni, Metra
Green Works: Florovivaistica Picinali
Outdoor Pavements: GRANULATI ZANDOBBIO, L’ALTRA PIETRA
Ceramic Facade: Moeding
Green Roof: Rasenfix
Wooden Structures: Woodbeton gruppo Nulli
Comune: Nembro
Country: Italy
The Multi-Service Care Center in Nembro, designed by Studio Capitanio Architetti and DBmLab, provides elderly day services and bridges social and healthcare needs. Completed in 2020 for Fondazione RSA di Nembro, the 6,000 m² facility includes 2,000 m² of new construction, harmonizing with the historic San Nicola church and Via Ronchetti. Using the site’s slope, it offers shaded porticos and terraces. Glazed-terracotta facades echo local architecture, while a central corridor connects communal spaces, therapy rooms, and offices. Architect Remo Capitanio describes it as “interconnected with local dynamics yet highly contemporary,” accommodating evolving care needs.
The new multi-service daycare center, located in Nembro in the province of Bergamo at the entrance to Valle Seriana, was designed by Studio Capitanio Architetti in collaboration with DBmLab. Executed between 2019 and 2020 after an open tender by the NGO Fondazione RSA di Nembro, the facility was fully operational by early 2021.
The new healthcare facility was designed to meet Fondazione RSA’s goal of addressing the increasing need for elderly support. It functions as a day center, offering assistance to vulnerable users and serving as a connecting point between social and healthcare services and family caregivers, providing an alternative to residential care.
The project demonstrates sensitivity to its physical and environmental context, situated within the active community at the entrance to Valle Seriana in Bergamo. It thoughtfully engages with the social context essential for this type of facility.
The new complex expands the existing 4,000 sqm facility with an additional 2,000 sqm of new construction, extending from the original RSA (assisted residential care building) and incorporating open spaces around the sixteenth-century San Nicola church, the parish house, and leading toward the historic Via Ronchetti.
The design leverages the elevation difference between the RSA garden and the pedestrian walkway along Via Oriolo and Via dei Frati to the north. This positioning allows the building to be set back against the garden, enabling both the ground floor (facing south) and the first floor (facing north) to overlook the park in front.
The building’s volume utilizes the significant elevation change in the existing garden to partially conceal its north facade, minimizing its visual impact. The staggered levels create covered porticos on the ground floor and roof terraces on the first floor, providing shaded outdoor spaces for day center activities and sun protection during summer. The facades feature variable-section glazed terracotta elements that create a visual dialogue in color and material with the traditional river cobblestone finish of the nearby San Nicola church.
The composition of the internal spaces aims to create an environment that balances two key objectives: ensuring efficient routes and connections between various functional areas, while also providing a high level of comfort in the living spaces for all service users. This is achieved through a spacious, linear corridor and communal spaces that form a continuous pathway throughout the building. The facility includes a multi-service day center accommodating 30 users, an outpatient area with gyms and therapy cubicles, and office space dedicated to home care services.
This project addresses the construction of facilities for the elderly, meeting essential new needs driven by changing demands, longer life expectancy, and the need for a high quality of life for older adults. Given lifestyle changes, rising life expectancy, and emerging needs, this facility is designed within a context that prioritizes structures supporting elderly care.
The design is characterized by a precise alignment between the healthcare program and spatial distribution. Technical and construction choices enable flexible interactions between spaces, ensuring adaptability to evolving medical technology and changing spatial requirements.
“The new social and behavioural models at the basis of the project can be identified in the close relationship between technological innovation and daily life, making us, the project designers, face new scenarios. To these scenarios we reply with the construction of an architectural form which is interconnected and cohesive with local dynamics and at the same time highly contemporary”
– Remo Capitanio
Project Gallery
Project Location
Address: Nembro, 24027, Province of Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy
Location is for general reference and may represent a city or country, not necessarily a precise address.
