Bus Terminal and Ascent, Fermo

Description

The project addresses the northern side of Fermo’s historic centre through an urban and architectural strategy that intertwines reuse, new construction and topographic reorganization. Two critical poles define the intervention: below, the Orzolo parking area, underused because of weak pedestrian links with the historic centre; above, the discordant presence of a market building and an office block along Piazzale Azzolino. Between them lies a broad and heterogeneous intermediate band including Via Ficcadenti, Via Sant’Anna, Piazzale Carducci and the earth embankment connecting the lower and upper levels. The overall proposal was structured in four related phases. Only the first was completed: the bus terminal at Orzolo parking. The second phase envisaged a pedestrian and mechanised ascent system linking the parking area to Piazzale Azzolino through intermediate stations. The third and fourth phases proposed the reworking of the office block and market, together with the excavation and redesign of the embankment to create underground parking, commercial spaces, a new public market and roof plazas. The realised terminal is a lenticular building inserted with precision into the earth bank at the edge of the parking area. Its apparent simplicity is matched by careful execution: a reinforced-concrete structure clad in brick, marked by vertical cuts of varying width and crowned by a thin metal-and-glass canopy. The roof is accessible and shaped to reduce the apparent bulk of the building while increasing its integration with the profile of the slope. Inside, offices and public services are defined by light iron-and-glass partitions at the point where the ascent route begins. The unbuilt ascent system reveals the broader ambition of the project. A vaulted gallery was designed to pass beneath Via Ficcadenti and reach a first intermediate station carved from the partial excavation of a courtyard and lit from above by a skylight. From there, stairs, lifts, bridges and alternative pedestrian routes were intended to connect Via Sant’Anna, Piazzale Carducci and finally Piazzale Azzolino. The project thus transforms a problem of level difference into an articulated civic sequence, where infrastructure, public space and urban form become part of a single architectural idea.