In an area that had been abandoned for years in the Giardini di Sant’Elena in Venice, La Biennale di Venezia identified an ideal location for its new ticket office and staff offices, through the recovery of an almost completely collapsed greenhouse and the redevelopment of the green spaces in front of it.
In addition to this intervention, the La Biennale di Venezia project included the redevelopment of the current entrances and some temporary volumes used as services, adjacent to the historic Carlo scarpa entrance and the gate designed by him. The set of these interventions thus constitutes a true integrated and articulated project of redevelopment of the accessibility and use open to the public for the entrance to la Biennale di Venezia.

The firm H&A associati was selected to design and supervise the works of what was planned by the Special Projects Office of the Biennale. The first fully completed intervention concerns the new ticket office and the redevelopment of the front garden. This will be followed for the next Biennale Arte 2026 by the construction of the new entrances, and the removal of the temporary structures currently present.

The new ticket office

The proposal of the H&A Associati studio involved a functional recovery of the volume of the old greenhouse and a redevelopment of the paths and green spaces, introducing an original design of the roofing and at the same time reviving the memory of the original materials of the greenhouse, such as the brick pillars on the face and the windows and doors divided into squares, all” inglesina.” The welcoming effect of the new garden is emphasized by an entrance pergola that will be completely covered with vegetation. The new large roof of the origina and greenhouse pushes out with large overhangs toward the garden, creating a porticoed space, protected from the weather and sunbeams.
Underneath the portico, visitors to the Biennial can purchase tickets in an environment that dialogues with the completely upgraded green space that has become a small oasis within the gardens.
The dynamics of the different staggered planes of the roofing is accentuated by the materials chosen, which included a roofing in opaque titanium zinc, which fits well with the overall context, is in Alucobon mirrored internally to the portico, so as to create a depth effect through the reflections of this innovative material.
The roof of more than 230 m² becomes a simple urban sign with its own dynamic that dialogues with the green space and the presence of large trees in the ticket office garden. The building used for ticketing and offices of about 130 m² accommodates about 10 stations, a checkroom and technical rooms. The intervention carried out and thus a unicum between green design and the recovery of the greenhouse with the ‘introduction of new functions, returning a part of the gardens of St. Helena to the community and upgrading the function of access to the Biennale exhibition area.

The building completion of Tronchetto Island, commissioned to H&A Associates, was directed toward a project that redefines the waterfront and the volumes of new construction in relation to the existing pre-existing buildings.

The design of the new building complex for the construction of a 3- and 4-star hotel for the B&B Hotels brand was directed toward the composition of architectural volumes articulated dynamically at the plan level. The use of face brick was taken up as a common element in Venetian architecture and also present in some typologies already built on the island itself. The final effect is that of a series of building artifacts with a pattern of broken lines that are also taken up by rotations of the facades, creating dynamism in a complex that risked the excessive monumentality given by the volumes allowed by the plan address of the area.

The project involves the construction of two buildings for residential use.
The peculiarity of the intervention concerns their planimetric arrangement and the decreasing trend of the various levels to create an effect of volumetric variety and avoid introspection between the two buildings as much as possible.
The particular section and the trend of the various levels have made it possible to develop large terraces used by the apartments as outdoor spaces with large plantings, thus making the liveability of the accommodation of the highest quality.

The project involved the construction of a hotel with 324 rooms on the Isola Nuova del Tronchetto in Venice.The building consists of two buildings and a transverse connection surmounted by a large metal pergola that marks the main entrance.
The large central breakfast room, as a barycentric space compared to the whole complex, faces an internal courtyard and relates with the two lateral buildings.

The irregular phoromentrics and the broken pattern of the eaves frame create a dynamic of the building’s frontages that dialogue with the pre-existing features of Tronchetto Island. The dark base and the varied composition create an effect of “detachment” from the ground in contrast with the broken lines of the upper frame.

The project involves the construction of a new headquarters for management use for a team of accounting consultants.
The intervention concerned the choice of spaces, the definition of the meeting rooms and the design of the entrance area with the reception. The studio took care of both the architectural part and the interior design with a choice of materials and finishes.

The Duse Arena is located near the Sottomarina waterfront and has been a meeting and event venue for several years for the City of Chioggia.

Following a period of neglect, the current facility has been unused and has significant problems due to the lack of a roof.
The firm H&A associati has carried out a project with the City of Chioggia under PNRR for the execution of the roofing and subsequent completion, to return to the City a gathering place that will be open for performances and culture.
The covered theater will accommodate about 800 people seated on the bleachers and 470 people in the parterre for a total of 1270. The arena will be able to host concerts and cultural events of various kinds.
The large circular roof is formed by two asymmetrical discs with a metal cover and a lattice structure over the large spans. Such a large structural object becomes the new “sign” that characterizes the Arena and actually creates an original and distinctive land mark for Chioggia’s waterfront.

NH Collection VILLA VENICE, Murano, Venice: 4-star superior structure Architecture and interior design project for the functional recovery of the former De Majo furnace in Murano. The project involved the construction (completed in 2023) of a 4-star superior hotel with 104 rooms, enhancing the existing volumes of a furnace abandoned for many years with great attention to the artisanal aspect of glass. The project focused on both the interpretation of space and the use of materials. The building being restored extends from the Fondamenta Navagero to the lagoon with views of Sant’Erasmo and Le Vignole. The firm was responsible for the final and executive design of all architectural, structural and interior design aspects, following the construction and art direction until the work was completed.

FONDAZIONE DELL’ALBERO D’ORO, PALAZZO GRIMANI, GRAND CANAL, VENICE Private foundation/museum.
H&A Associati followed the conservative restoration and renovation phases of a 16th-century palace on the Grand Canal in Venice for the creation of a museum and for the headquarters of the Albero d’Oro Foundation.
The project led to the use of historic and decorated spaces with great attention to architectural and functional restoration interventions for the creation of museum spaces, events, bookshops and temporary exhibitions of the Venice Biennale.

Credits: Studio Feiffer/Raimondi

Restoration of works in wood and metal carpentry.
Intervention to recover works in wood and metal carpentry with verification of seismic vulnerability of the structures of the Bridge of the Academy.

The project concerns a 4-star hotel with around 250 rooms near Venice Marco Polo airport.
Construction technology will focus on prefabrication in wood, following the needs of sustainability and energy saving.
The lot is located within an existing green area, near a nursery and a swimming pool which will be used by the new hotel.