Shaping the School for the Future
Don Milani Primary School, which opened in January 2024 in Borgosatollo, a town near Brescia in northern Italy, is a new piece of architecture tailored to children’s needs that provides a warm welcome to the classroom day after day.
The multi-building complex is located in the heart of a neighbourhood with several schools, and its eye-catching envelope and iconic forms have made it a visual landmark in the area.
Blue is a recurring feature throughout the district, and the Mediterranean Blue titanium-zinc zintek® from «The Color Line» series chosen for the building’s cladding is the most striking example: a living “skin” in constant dialogue with the light and the surrounding landscape.
The zintek® panels — laid vertically and decorated with specially designed geometric folds — give the façades a three-dimensional appearance and create an interplay of light and shadows that evolves as the day progresses. The panels are interspersed with wooden slats, also clad in zintek®, which integrate the rainwater management system into the envelope, proving that aesthetics and functionality can be combined in a single architectural language.
Don Milani is more than just a school; it is a pioneering example of sustainable architecture. The design — created by Settanta7 with Opera Mista and SGE, and built by Benis Costruzioni — features a load-bearing structure made of wood and hand-pressed straw and assembled on site, one of very few examples of this construction technique in the public sector.
The straw’s natural insulating properties and the recycled cellular glass foundations ensured the school achieved NZEB (Nearly-Zero Energy Building) standard, consuming up to 70% less energy than a traditional school building.
Inside, 22 classrooms, multifunctional spaces, a gym, a canteen, and a games room are set within a customizable system of open, permeable, and brightly lit rooms. This makes the school a constantly shifting landscape of atria, corridors, work areas, and play spaces, able to adapt to continually changing demands.
Don Milani primary school embodies sustainability, community, and the future, leaving its mark both on the urban fabric and in the imagination of the children who attend it each day.
