Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners has completed its first project in Italy, the country of Richard Rogers’ birth.

The Nuovo Centro Civico, designed with local practice DAStudio, is a new town centre for Scandicci, four miles south-west of Florence.

The development is oriented around a piazza and includes flats, a cultural centre, an office building and a tram station.

The new buildings are part of a wider urban plan commissioned by Scandicci council in 2003 and are intended to transform the area from a disconnected satellite town into a renewed city hub.

Richard Rogers said: “We hope to have marked a change and indicated a new direction for the next 20 years of development of Scandicci. I believe that we have created something truly special and I hope that the legacy of this project will continue to develop for many years to come.”

Ivan Harbour, senior partner, said: “A work of this magnitude is a great catalyst and already the town is responding to the work. Scandicci places people above all other design considerations. This should always be the aim behind a great urban regeneration project.”

> via bdonline.co.uk