Progetto CMR and Gruppo Focchi Join the Elite of Italian Industrial Design – CELLIA® Wins the COMPASSO D’ORO ADI 2024
The interactive facade for more efficient and technological buildings, designed by Progetto CMR and developed with Gruppo Focchi, has been awarded the *Compasso d’Oro ADI 2024* in the category of material design and technological systems.
CELLIA® is a new model of interactive facade created by Progetto CMR – a company specializing in integrated design that celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2024 – and developed and patented in collaboration with Gruppo Focchi, a company with strong experience in engineered facade solutions tailored to specific needs. Based on the idea that the relationship between the exterior shell of buildings and their interior environments is now essential, CELLIA® is a new responsive/sensitive module for building facades, highly integrated and technological, fully customizable in finishes, dimensions, and performance levels, and entirely manufactured in a facility using advanced engineering systems.
CELLIA® allows for the integration, within a single interactive unit, of the air conditioning and ventilation system, cabling, shading systems (both fixed with vertical/horizontal brise soleil and movable with technical curtains), energy production through photovoltaic panels, and both internal and external lighting. Additionally, this innovative system can be controlled remotely and integrated with the most advanced Building Management Systems. The interactive facade can be easily and quickly installed on both new constructions and existing buildings, without the need to relocate the occupants, thus maintaining the property’s revenue and reducing construction time. Maintenance is also designed to be simple, safe, and more cost-effective, thanks to the study of housing points and access to internal units.
The construction site thus becomes smart, short, and low-impact: installation is done by sectors, minimizing overlap during working hours, and assembly time is reduced thanks to nearly complete off-site assembly. This creates a real opportunity for the renovation of existing real estate, increasing its economic value, improving its energy efficiency, and reducing maintenance costs. Additionally, when working on existing buildings, architectural and urban constraints often arise, to which CELLIA®, being flexible and modular, adapts easily. At the same time, by engaging with the formal characteristics of the space it integrates with, the module makes building facades unique and unrepeatable, marking the aesthetic signature that each building leaves in the urban landscape.
“We are extremely proud that CELLIA® has entered the pantheon of the best Italian industrial design, and even more thrilled that this recognition came in 2024, the year when Progetto CMR celebrates 30 years of activity and the *Compasso d’Oro ADI* celebrates its 70th anniversary,” says architect Massimo Roj, founding partner and CEO of Progetto CMR. “The idea of CELLIA® came from listening to the needs of the market, our partners, and our clients: Italy has an outdated building stock, with 84.5% of buildings constructed before 1990 (compared to 65.6% in France and 75.3% in Germany), and a low building renewal rate of 0.85% per year (compared to 1.7% in France and Germany). CELLIA® can be the answer to this situation: a single envelope module integrates multiple functions that make buildings unique, valuable, and highly technological.”
“By following the three fundamental principles of Industry 5.0 – Sustainability, Resilience, and Human-Centricity – we are working to develop new models of connection between the environment, facades, and people. CELLIA allows us to prefab and integrate different technologies. The result is a more efficient building and greater comfort for its occupants,” says Maurizio Focchi, President of Gruppo Focchi. “The facade is no longer just considered a technical element of separation, but an active component that plays a crucial role in the building’s sustainability and the comfort of its users. The increasingly inseparable relationship between the exterior facade and the building’s interior spaces is one of the fundamental principles that led to the creation of CELLIA, a construction system designed to accompany the transformation of living spaces.”
CELLIA®, like the other objects awarded the “Oscar” of industrial design, is now part of the *Compasso d’Oro ADI* Collection – a prestigious award created in 1954 by Gio Ponti to highlight the quality of Italian design products – which has been declared of “exceptional artistic and historical interest” by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities.
For their collaboration in creating the mock-up, Progetto CMR and Gruppo Focchi would like to thank:
AGC Glass Europe, Alpac, Linea Light, Mitsubishi Electric (Climatisation Division), Omnitex, Onyx Solar, and R2M Solution.
