A Rome marketplace gets a facelift

Even a small-scale urban regeneration project can help to transform the appearance of a street or neighbourhood, whether in a small town or a big city.
A good example of this is the redevelopment project for Via Val d’Ossola in Municipio Roma III (the 3rd administrative subdivision of Rome), an urban area enclosed by the Aniene river and not far from Via Nomentana.
The administration of Municipio III had long been aware of the need to redevelop the centrally located Via Val d’Ossola so that it could be used for the local market in the mornings and become a pedestrianised area during the rest of the day. Markets are normally places of gathering and social interaction, and serve as important meeting points for the inhabitants of a neighbourhood and the surrounding areas. Given the poor state of health and safety of the marketplace in Via Val d’Ossola, the decision was taken to dismantle the existing stalls and carry out repaving work. When the work was completed in 2022, the market area was able to accommodate the new movable stalls and a variety of street furniture such as lighting and urban greenery was installed. The material chosen to pave this small central area was Grestone (Pietra Lavica Grey porcelain tile series) from Saxa Gres, a company that had already been involved in another project in Rome, that of the Parco Centrale del Lago area in the EUR neighbourhood.
Grestone pavers were chosen for their strength, ease of installation and environmental sustainability. The material complies with ISO 17889-1 standard (Sustainability for Ceramic Tiles and Installation Materials – Part 1: Specification for Ceramic Tiles) and has gained the EcoVadis Silver Sustainability Rating 2022, an accreditation that certifies sustainable business management based on more than 20 parameters regarding environmental, ethical and social performance.
Key characteristics of the new pavers include their chemical and stain resistance (an important quality for an area used as a market), the ability to withstand high mechanical stress due to their 50 mm thickness, frost resistance and anti-slip properties.