Project description

Inaugurated in 1932, a few months after the new Milano Centrale railway station, on the opposite side of the square, the Hotel was reopened and completely renovated in 2015 thanks to a project of the Milanese architect Marco Piva. The Art Nouveau hotel exterior is embellished by the original blue dome and by an elegant façade. The hotel history mingles with the history of Milan in 1930s. The modernization project led by CEAS focused on the structural design of the Pirelli – Filzi Tower, as part of the Hotel renovation. The building, divided from the historical Hotel building by a structural joint around the perimeter, consists of 9 levels above ground and 1 basement. The load-bearing structure is made of in-situ reinforced concrete beams and pillars and three reinforced concrete cores ensuring lateral stability. The type of floor used for the typical above ground floors is the solid reinforced concrete slab with post-tensioned strands. Some parts of the building bear heavy loads such as the swimming pool on the seventh floor and the vehicular areas on the ground floor. It was highly complex to preserve the outer walls of an old World War II bunker where the old 6-storey building that was demolished rested. At the end of the 4 years modernization works, the Excelsior Hotel Gallia was inaugurated again in May 2015, during the ribbon cutting ceremony of EXPO Milano 2015.