Alp Transit Depot – Sigirino, Canton Ticino
with ITC & IFEC Eng., 2003-2020
Alp Transit is presently building high-speed tunnels to link Italy with northern Europe. In one of the tunnel projects, 3.7 millions cubic meters of inert stone material from the Sotto Ceneri mountain range will be amassed on the Sigirino site. The depot, located 5 kilometers to the north of Lugano, will face directly the small village of Sigirino on the old St. Gotthard Road. The site abuts a significant nature zone and is visible from the major highway and train line that crosses Switzerland towards Italy. Because of its sensitive location, the exceptionally large quantity of material to be stored and the commitment to preserve tourism and environmental quality, the client understood the requirement to add, from the onset, a landscape architect to the design team. The stepped and faceted morphology of the depot provides a system of water collection and paths for visitors. 3D topographical analysis as well as visualization technology was used extensively, due to the complexity & scale of the project. For its political approval, visions of the evolution and integration of the Depot in the site were key communication tools. Animation films were created from the 3D model to aid in understanding the volume in situ. Construction will be completed by 2020.