Rimini Palacongressi equipped by Zenith Shop Design

The dramatic glass “shell”, a unique feature characterizing the new Rimini Palacongressi, the most important convention centre in Italy and one of the most representative in Europe, is likely to become a style icon.

Cefla, making the most of the synergies among its Group units, has supplied the sophisticated special equipment created by its plant engineering division, Divisione Impianti, and all the tailor-made furnishings, sliding walls and panelling created by Divisione Zenith Shop Design.

“At Cefla, we are honoured to have applied our all-Italian styling and technical skills to the construction of this world-class convention centre”, declared Giovanni Antonelli, President of Cefla Group, last October 15^th at the official opening of the new Rimini Palacongressi, which covers an area of 38,000 square metres previously occupied by the old fair district.

Interior decoration and industrial design by Zenith Shop Design

A major contribution was offered by Zenith Shop Design – one of Cefla Group’s brands – which was able to create unique environments by combining painstaking attention to aesthetic details and top performance, guaranteeing the highest levels of safety, strength, acoustics and fire resistance.

“We were able to contribute proactively to this project: we didn’t have merely executive tasks, – explained Mario De Santis, Zenith Shop Design Contract Manager – but we started from the interior design project created by Studio GMP, and while always working in close cooperation with the designers and main contractor, came up with solutions enabling to cut costs, optimize resources and adjust to any contingencies becoming apparent during work. We were awarded this contract because we are perceived as reliable, and I think I can now safely state that we did not let down the contractors who had put their trust in us. This was an extremely complex contract, in both management and technical terms, but for us, the biggest success was to meet the expectations of a world-class designer and of a contractor determined to focus on Quality”.

Elegant beech wood panelling covers all the inside walls of the Palacongressi, Sala della Piazza and the dramatic Sala Anfiteatro. This material was chosen not just for its aesthetic value but also for its sound-absorbent properties, which play a key role in the creation of acoustic comfort in interior environments.

The mobile walls allowing rooms to be divided into modules were also designed with acoustic well-being in mind.

Zenith Shop Design additionally supplied all the furnishings: the reception counters, also made from slatted beech wood, and the numerous mini-reception counters, also in beech wood and movable on foldaway wheels.

Beech wood was also used for all the speaker desks in the various rooms; and for the bar areas and counters, closed off by wooden walls sliding on ceiling rails.

Equally as impressive is the bistrot area, where the supply included, in addition to all bar and self service counters, glass cover finishes and the futuristic glass folding wall towering at the bottom, which operates according to the same mechanism as the wooden sliding walls.

To ensure the project’s aesthetic continuity, the same level of detail and beech wood finish are also found in the cloakrooms, which can be found at several locations within the facility, furnished with counters and glass totems with neon element lighting, and designed to have numbered hangers for the garments.

Finally, the Zenith Shop Design supply includes an elegant, distinctive signage system ensuring internal and external public communication.

The building outside facades were supplied with a system of structures to contain temporary, easily removable canvas panels for event information purposes.

The building interior signage is based on totems, built according to the same technique used for outdoor totems, also including hi-tech totems with in-built screens supplied by the Cefla Impianti division.

Advanced technology supplied by Cefla Impianti

“The main aspect of the executive design, implementation and supply of all the Palacongressi convention centre equipment was not just to coordinate in an integrated manner both structural and technological elements while ensuring maximum flexibility, but also to think in terms of medium- to long-term planning – said Michele Cimatti, Cefla Impianti Works Manager – as the systems are designed to allow for future evolution from a management point of view, and, in technological terms, for future upgrades”.