Architecture Awards 2021

10 BUILD 2021 Architecture Awards Contemporary Architect of the Year 2021: GBa Studio_Gianluca Brini Architetto – Italy & Best Contemporary Healthcare Building: Nuova Villa Bellombra Hospital – Italy GBa Studio operates in the field of architecture, engineering and urban planning, and its projects cover all types of buildings, including tertiary, residential, productive, healthcare, commerce, environment, urban plans and infrastructures. The studio is led by Gian Luca Brini who has been a single freelancer since 1990. In January 1998, he opened his own office in Bologna, and since 2005, he has been the sole director of GBa Studio. ach of GBa Studio’s projects receive great thought and attention to detail, with a proactive approach, and in-depth knowledge and expertise. The team is constantly researching trends, whether it’s during all the phases of each commission, before and after each contract development, or as an everyday activity. The team is always innovating too, considering new themes such as cohousing and sustainability to inspire their designs. The firm is now designing buildings for a new generation of clients, so ideas need to be kept fresh, up-to-date and dynamic to suit their needs. Over the years, GBa Studio has been consolidating its internal structure and the external network, allowing it to develop complex projects in an integrated and coordinated way, including with public purchasers. The firm has a responsibility towards its projects and clients, towards society and the world, so it strives to create buildings that are meaningful and which change lives for the better, because it must not just design and build things, but it must create beautiful spaces and moments. 2018 marked the 20th anniversary of the firm’s activities, now recognised among the consolidated references of the architecture and urban planning sector: GBa Studio, though outside the great media and advertising flows by choice, is a stable and concrete institution that persists in practicing the project and its theory with passion and determination. This is due to an extraordinary number of plans and built constructions, especially in Bologna and the surrounding area, for private (mainly) and public customers. Over the years, the firm has also won numerous awards through participation in competitions and numerous publications E Apr21764 in first-line journals and qualified books, both nationally and internationally. Even today, the firm prides itself on the recognition continuing in this way. The 20-year goal of GBa Studio’s continuous activity coincides with a year of deep internal restructuring and re-launching of initiatives, including the foundation of GBa Lab, a training and research laboratory led by the engineer Riccardo Brini. An example of GBa Studio’s extraordinary work include Nuova Villa Bellombra Hospital, which has been recognised by BUILD magazine as the best contemporary healthcare building in Italy. Nuova Villa Bellombra Hospital delivers performance in continuous hospitalisation for post-acute care, with rehabilitation function. In particular, it is a health facility entirely dedicated to intensive rehabilitation of neurological and orthopaedic, recovery and functional rehabilitation. The hospital’s design sees the wards built around a vast garden, enabling patients to have a direct view of the beautiful greenery outside. It is a modern and innovative building with the design based very much on biophilia, through awareness of how nature influences wellbeing. The healing powers of nature are known and proven (since the studies of the 80s in the cognitive, psychological and physiological fields). The architectural project was contemporary, functional, sustainable, technologically cutting-edge, and innovative, and fit in perfectly with the Bologna countryside. Environmentally friendly choices were made concerning the landscape and nature, with sustainable materials and techniques used to ensure the green surroundings remain healthy and to maintain soil permeability and durability. Bioarchitecture, bioengineering GBa Studio_Gianluca Brini Architetto