Author: Elisa Rubes

Great human interest stories within a flood of ideas, people, techniques and intelligence
are woven together in the Children’s Surgical Hospital project in Entebbe. A “polyphonic work”, that of the Children’s Surgical Hospital in Entebbe, the centre of excellence for emergency paediatric surgery in Uganda, designed by RPBW – Renzo Piano Building Workshop, TAMassociati and Emergency. A virtuous example of good architecture and co-design that brings together ethics and aesthetics, and the first international visibility project with the active participation of the network of companies that make up Theatro. The hospital, which is set in large tree-filled gardens, is ready to provide free treatment to children needing surgery from all over Africa. The building is constructed in rammed earth, a traditional technique using raw earth which helps to guarantee thermal inertia, able to maintain constant temperatures and moisture levels. For the Ugandan hospital project, it was essential to form an effective and efficient operational team. Theatro was part of this team, coordinating the skills of some of its partner companies, able to develop custom solutions and working to simplify the project without losing any of the quality or performance. Six firms with six specific areas of expertise, working together under the coordination of Theatro, made it possible to complete a project that designers and the principle have called a “polyphonic work”, in which ethics and aesthetics come together with the shared aim of “simplifying without compromising on the quality of the end result”. The synergy between stakeholders in the project, who share expertise and work in coordination towards the same result, under the direction of Theatro, is an example of how collaboration brings the affirmation of quality architecture into being.

On the shores of Lake Como, the historic building of the Grand Hotel Victoria Concept & Spa in Menaggio (Como) has undergone large-scale expansion and renovation works, carried out with the integrated consulting of Theatro placed at the service of the planning abilities of Studio Pè Architettura & Design to try out cutting-edge solutions in terms of wellness, comfort, and environmental quality. Preserving and making the most of the splendid historic architectural features, the intervention by Studio Pè Architettura & Design is based around ensuring seamless continuity between old and new, achieved through careful, well-thought out choices in terms of design, colour, and materials.
Franco Pè worked with Theatro and its new way of making architecture, based on synergy, experimentation and continued dialogue, and Theatro made expertise available from some of its own partner companies: AGC, ASSA ABLOY Entrance Systems, Resstende, Schüco Italia, Starpool and Thema. Once again the firms revealed themselves to be proactive, reliable partners, meeting the challenges offered by the project. So much so that the clients – R Collection Hotels, a Rocchi family hotel group – allowed plenty of freedom in terms of design and the possibility to try out bold, innovative solutions with a great aesthetic and performance impact.