Museo Governo delle Acque
The project, completed in 2026, involves the restoration and adaptive reuse of a former pumping station within the Cervia Salt Pans Nature Reserve, converting it into the Museum of Water Management. The original building, constructed with load-bearing masonry walls and a timber roof structure, was historically responsible for regulating the inflow and outflow of water at the entrance to the salt pans. As technological and mechanical systems evolved, requiring increasingly larger spaces to accommodate new equipment, the building underwent a succession of alterations and extensions that progressively transformed and obscured its original configuration.
The project aims to recover and enhance the building's original spatial and constructive character while upgrading it to meet the contemporary technical standards required for museum facilities. The central design concept is the insertion of a new steel intermediate floor structure that simultaneously serves as structural reinforcement, building services integration, and the primary circulation element for the exhibition route. The result is an autonomous "machine" that resolves the building's structural problems while concealing within its depth all the electrical and mechanical systems required for the museum activity. At the upper level, a historic terrace that had been demolished during an earlier phase of the building's life is reinstated. The museum thus becomes a cinematic device, framing and celebrating the evocative landscape of the salt marshes while offering visitors a pause moment from the exhibition with a privileged view of the surrounding landscape. A double-height space, an elevated walkway, and the restoration of the original timber roof trusses together give renewed spatial generosity to the interiors. All newly introduced elements are executed in black-painted steel, deliberately distinguishing themselves from the texture of the original masonry and ensuring an immediate and legible distinction between the historic fabric and the contemporary intervention. The existing machinery has been carefully restored, while the new polished concrete floor enhances and recalls the building's original industrial function.
