Energy and digital transition of the Capodimonte Museum. It will self-produce 90 percent of its energy

A project for the restoration, redevelopment, energy efficiency and enhancement of the Capodimonte Museum and Real Bosco aimed at the implementation of the works and the integrated management of energy, technological and multimedia services of the museum venue was presented yesterday. The pilot project of energy and digital transition is part of the first Public-Private Partnership within the Ministry of Culture, and will be carried out through project financing, with a total investment amount of 45million 726 thousand euros, of which 22.2 million is public contribution (or 48.57%of the total) and 23.5 million is private contribution (or 51.43% of the total). Designers of the entire intervention are Neapolitan architects CORVINO+MULTARI, coordinators of the RPT contracted with RINA Consulting, Climosfera and A3S for all aspects of Engineering.

The project aims at the digital and ecological transition, as well as energy and economic sustainability of the Capodimonte Museum and Real Bosco, in continuity with the four missions identified within the Masterplan of the museum site (heritage protection and enhancement, digital, environmental and social), which had been drafted in 2016 by director Sylvain Bellenger and is constantly updated.

Providing innovative energy production will be ENGIE, a strategic partner in the project, using renewable sources that will allow the museum to self-produce about 90 percent of its energy needs. It will also take care of the restoration and re-functionalization and redevelopment of the Capodimonte Museum and Real Bosco by developing the project approved by the Superintendence, through a 20-year management of energy, technological and multimedia services as well as the ordinary and extraordinary maintenance of all facilities.

Energy efficiency and energy production from renewable sources will allow the Museum to be substantially “self-sufficient.” The project also includes upgrading existing spaces, improving air conditioning, and creating new public reception areas that will include digital technologies.

These are the main interventions of the project: energy sustainability (an innovative photovoltaic system and a trigeneration plant; the site will be able to self-produce 90 percent of the electricity useful for its needs); overall energy savings of more than 50 percent; reduced environmental impact with 1,700 tons of CO2 saved in total; lighting concept (more than 16 thousand square meters will be illuminated redefining the concept of light for art, ensuring greater protection of the works); reception and accessibility (new spaces and optimization of existing ones through the use of digital strategies aimed at preservation, enhancement, and communication, capable of making the public’s museum experience and reception services more functional, comfortable, and technological); structured cabling between the Real Bosco and the Reggia to equip the Park and all historic buildings with Wi-Fi network, with the provision of systems for lighting, video surveillance, and environmental sensor technology for the prevention of risks related to the site’s vulnerabilities.

The project will start by the end of September and will end in December 2025, with a phased construction site so that only certain areas of the museum will be closed, which throughout the duration of the work will remain open to the public.

A photovoltaic system of more than 500kWp consisting of 4500 modules will be installed on the roof of the Reggia, architecturally integrated. The air conditioning systems in all the museum’s exhibition areas will be upgraded. An additional 6,500 square meters will be added to the current 8,000 air-conditioned square meters, for a total of 14,500 square meters, with an overall expansion of more than 77 percent over the current air-conditioned areas. A new environmental thermo-hygrometric monitoring system will enable professional sensors distributed throughout the museum areas to record point measurements of temperature, humidity and air quality to preserve the artworks. The second floor of the museum (Farnese Collection and the Royal Apartment), currently without air conditioning, will be equipped with a new system. The one on the second floor (Neapolitan School) and the third floor (Contemporary Art) will also be upgraded.

The lighting project includes the installation of 7,000 new lighting points and the replacement of 3,300 lamps with LED technology. More than 16,000 square meters will be illuminated following an innovative and modern lighting concept and, thanks to the use of state-of-the-art technologies, punctual remote control of the light sources will be possible to manage intensity, optical cone, color and temperature. A multifunctional space will be created with the use of advanced digital technologies in the rooms of the former Royal Chapel, which has served as an Auditorium since the 1950s. The Causa Hall will undergo architectural and plant upgrading, house a visitable storage room and be equipped with all the latest technologies.

Participating in the project with site-specific works will be Mimmo Paladino and Christiane Löhr: Christiane Löhr’s intervention will affect the terrace with Ezio De Felice’s altana, which will be accessed through the third floor intended for contemporary art. Further interventions will be related to the Sol LeWitt Hall to the redesign of the ground floor spaces intended for ticketing, checkroom and reception that will house Mimmo Paladino’s installation.

“In 2025, the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte,” said Sylvain Bellenger, director general of the Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte, “will have a completely new face and will be the first completely sustainable cultural site in Italy. That of energy transition is the most complex challenge that the contemporary world poses to us, and Capodimonte has decided to accept and win it thanks to a virtuous partnership between the public and private sectors. The environmental mission-along with the social mission of protection and enhancement and digitization-has been the goal of this administration from the very beginning. The governance and restoration of the Bosco’s historic gardens, the restitution of plant architecture, and the ecological revolution of irrigation and landscaping have revolutionized the use and also the respect that Neapolitans have for their Bosco. With Project Financing we are taking another big step forward, putting energy sustainability at the center, through the rehabilitation and efficiency of the entire Reggia, providing innovative interventions on the facilities and on the reception and staging spaces. With these projects, by 2025, Capodimonte will be one of the most advanced museums in Europe in terms of technology and management.”

Energy and digital transition of the Capodimonte Museum. It will self-produce 90 percent of its energy

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