On Tuesday, September 30, the construction of the Olympic Village for Milano-Cortina 2026 was officially presented — one of the landmark projects of the upcoming Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Progetto CMR, an integrated design company, managed both the general and architectural construction supervision of the project, located in the western section of the former Porta Romana rail yard.
Commissioned by COIMA SGR S.p.A. – Fondo Porta Romana and owned by the COIMA Olympic Village Fund, the development covers a total area of 50,000 sqm.
After the Games conclude in 2026, the Olympic Village will be converted into student housing with 1,700 beds, built using affordable housing schemes, and returned to the City of Milan.
Construction was carried out by a consortium of Impresa CEV S.p.A., Grassi e Crespi S.r.l., and Milani S.p.A.
A pioneering model for large-scale urban projects
The Olympic Village is the first project in Italy to adopt a Partnering contract, an innovative approach to collaboration between client, designers, and contractors.
This alternative to traditional contracts introduces a shared organizational and decision-making model, enhancing efficiency across technology implementation, site management, and procurement. It enables faster execution and improved coordination of all project phases.
Thanks to its extensive experience managing complex construction projects—including the Bocconi University New Campus and its sports center in Milan, the Ri.MED biomedical research center in Carini (Palermo), and the H-Campus in Ca’ Tron near Venice—Progetto CMR played a strategic role in this cutting-edge process.
Prefabrication and off-site construction: key to early delivery
A key factor contributing to the project’s success was the extensive use of off-site construction methods. Most of the structural components and key elements of the six residential buildings designed to host the athletes were prefabricated, minimizing on-site labor and accelerating the overall construction process.
This approach led to a 30-day advance on the official project timeline: construction began in January 2023 and was completed in just 900 days, by June 2025.
“We are proud that our experience on the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Village has helped pave the way for a new approach to project delivery. This took place in one of the most innovative development sites in Europe, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), and a project that carries high expectations at both national and international levels,” said Marco Ferrario, Co-Founder and President of Progetto CMR, who oversaw the General and Architectural Construction Management of the Olympic Village.
