In 2024, a new multipurpose complex dedicated to health and personal care was inaugurated in Mestrino, a small town in the province of Padua with a population of around 12,000. Replacing an obsolete building in Via Marco Polo, the Mestrino Health Centre was designed by local practice Tecnostudio as part of a broader neighbourhood redevelopment project.
The brief called for a distinctive new landmark that would be recognisable from a major suburban road and would serve both as a functional, well-equipped healthcare hub and as a catalyst for urban regeneration.
The Health Centre is an almost cubic volume set within an irregular perimeter and rising over five levels, one of which is underground. The basement houses technical rooms, an automated warehouse and parking. The ground floor, which serves as the main entrance, contains a pharmacy with complementary services, while the upper floors accommodate specialist and diagnostic clinics designed to deliver high-quality healthcare in carefully curated surroundings.
The interiors were designed to promote physical and mental well-being and to ensure high environmental quality through the choice of materials and lighting, acoustic comfort and climate control solutions. Spanning 1,500 square metres, the project aimed to create spaces that would be both functional and comfortable, capable of promoting health and everyday productivity. The pharmacy, for example, is laid out symmetrically, with circular, concentric furnishings that create clean, fluid and orderly spaces.
On the exterior, the concept adopts a regular, modular grid that generates an alternation of solids and voids across all the façades. Opaque and transparent surfaces are arranged according to the functions of the various interiors, striking a dynamic balance between privacy and visual permeability.
The choice of Italian porcelain stoneware from Lea Ceramiche was part of a broader strategy spanning form, aesthetics and sustainability. High-performance materials, insulated honeycomb panels and thermal-break double-glazed windows are combined with high-efficiency ventilation and climate control systems, while a rooftop photovoltaic array further contributes to the building’s overall energy balance.
The approximately 2,800 square metres of the complex are clad with ceramic tiles from the Concreto collection designed by Fabio Novembre for Lea Ceramiche as part of a long-standing creative partnership. On the façades, ultra-thin 6 mm Slimtech panels in the Rust shade alternate with glazed sections. As for the interiors, the Light version in the 260×120 cm size, also 6 mm thick, was chosen for the floors of the pharmacy and clinics, ensuring brightness and visual continuity with the exterior. The same Light finish in a 90×90 cm size was used for the floors in the toilets and underground warehouse, while the open terrace is tiled in the 90×90 cm, 20 mm-thick L2 outdoor version to guarantee the maximum safety and visual coherence.
As architect Danilo Turato explains, “The building has a highly distinctive visual appearance due to the carefully designed alternation of porcelain stoneware solids and glass voids, giving it the look of a large chequered cube. All materials were chosen with the utmost attention to quality, colour consistency and durability to ensure a solid, elegant and enduring image. But the Health Centre is not just about form: it is also about technology, featuring integrated automation, advanced sanitisation systems and a robotic warehouse for automated medicine distribution. It is a project that brings together architecture, innovation and well-being for the benefit of the community.”
