Ponte San Pietro, Marlegno builds green houses for social housing

In Marlegno's new plant and innovation hub in Calcinate, at a logistical crossroads equidistant from Bergamo and Brescia, some twenty prefabricated modular timber structures are waiting, side by side, to be completed with the installation of the systems to serve future homes.

To the visitor's eye, they appear like so many small houses of a widespread, single-storey village: in reality, however, they are a series of pre-assembled cores in three dimensions, already positioned on the trailers that will transport them to their final destination in Ponte San Pietro. They are Bim-engineered cells, designed for all-round circularity (in assembly and eventual disassembly) which, like Lego blocks, will be placed side by side, interconnected or stacked to create three social housing blocks. A new generation condominium, in which 36 families will live.

This is one of the latest orders being worked on by Marlegno, a construction company in the green building sector, founded in 2000 by the Marchetti family and today, in Italy, one of the very few companies in the green building sector (and not only) to have developed an integrated approach that combines digital design, engineering, construction and consultancy throughout the entire life cycle of buildings. This is demonstrated by its patented technologies (in addition to 3D modules, there is, for example, a shell system for building regeneration) and its organisation in six different Business Units: timber houses, timber roofs and structures, bio-neighbourhoods, general contractors, 3D modules and redevelopment.

Growth is also evident in the numbers: the production value has risen from 29.8 million in 2021 to 40 million in 2024; the order portfolio has increased from 45 million in 2021 to 59 million in 2024; human capital has been strengthened, rising from 82 employees in 2021 to 96 in 2024. The company has also changed its headquarters, focusing on a new 60,000 m2 innovation hub, 13,000 of which are dedicated to production plants with 5.0 industrial automations and over 2100 m2 of LEED Gold certified offices and showrooms. All served by a photovoltaic park, which produces 650 Kwh of renewable energy and allows the recovery of 1683 tonnes of CO₂ each year.

"The first project that clearly focused on sustainability was the Bioquartiere Borgo del Sole in Bolgore, built between 2010 and 2015, a pioneering initiative that led to the construction of 120 technological and sustainable housing units," says President Angelo Marchetti. "This was the beginning of a research and development phase, also supported by partnerships with universities and research institutes, which allowed us to propose ourselves as General Contractor, embracing the industrialisation of the entire construction process, from design to construction site.