(Visited 115 times, 1 visits today)
(Visited 115 times, 1 visits today)

Zambon doubles its hi-tech hub in Bresso

07 April, Il Sole 24 Ore

“We’ve given the company the possibility to evolve”. Let’s start from here, the words of the Mayor of Bresso Ugo Vecchiarelli. They sound obvious only in the appearance, but they’re quite refreshing in a country dominated by bureaucracy and by administrations blocking projects rather than favouring them. Here, in the immediate Milan hinterland, it’s happening quite the opposite, with modifications to the urban planning that have accompanied the growth of Zambon, one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Italy. Zambon has chosen Bresso not only to establish its headquarters but also to create here a research campus, following the open innovation trend. The campus is now doubling its space with a project worth 56 million euro to create new spaces and laboratories. The project consists of two towers designed by Michele De Lucchi that will be completed by 2020, bringing the staff to 1200 people. The objective is to continue the work started in the recent years that had led to the creation of several start-ups in the life sciences sector, such as the listed company Molmed. “The future is here – says the president of the group Elena Zambon- Actually, this is also the present, which sees us working to create a bridge between research and practical applications. Bringing our projects and ideas on the market means giving more possibilities to patients to improve the quality of their lives”.

Established 112 years ago, Zambon has revenues for 700 million euro and 2800 employees. The group carried out a radical revolution in 1962, transferring its headquarters from Vicenza to Milan, betting on the most international of the Italian cities. Very clever choice indeed, since the export constitutes the 80% of the revenues. Thanks to the following modifications to the urban planning, the company also added a campus for applied research (OpenZone), that hosts also a company accelerator to enables companies operating in the life sciences sector to grow.

The investment in Bresso will bring the total space to 37 thousand Sq m and is part of the currently very dynamic scene of Milan with Human Technopole (in the former Expo area), and Città della Salute (in Sesto San Giovanni), and other two projects also related to urban renovation and healthcare. The projects complete each other, operating in different but related sectors: research on genome and big data in the Expo area, clinic research and the union between the oncology institute and the Besta neurologic institute, applied research and technology in Bresso. “I believe that cities – says the Mayor of Milano Giuseppe Sala – will be the engines for progress in this century. If we look at the new companies settling here, the universities, the tourists visiting the city, there is no doubt that Milan is the perfect example of how things are supposed to be. It’s absolutely legitimate to relaunch the South of the country and to speak about social benefits for the poorest families. But we mustn’t stop this locomotive, it would be a huge mistake”. The area concerned by the construction works faces Parco Nord, just outside Milan, and it will include also common and meeting spaces. The architect De Lucchi explains: “Because great ideas come from aggregation spaces”.

Source: Il Sole 24 Ore

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi