Work has begun in Venaria Reale on the construction of the new scientific center of CCR - Centro Conservazione Restauro “La Venaria Reale,” a facility dedicated to scientific research and diagnostics applied to the study and conservation of cultural heritage . The official presentation of the project was held on March 3, 2026, at 11 a.m. in the premises at 18 Via XX Settembre in Venaria Reale. The new center will be built inside theformer Galoppatoio Lamarmora, a historic building owned by the Piedmont Region. The redevelopment is part of the program to enhance the UNESCO complex of the Reggia di Venaria Reale, of which the area is an integral part. The stated goal is to strengthen the role of Italian scientific research on cultural heritage on the international scene and to create a highly specialized hub for diagnostics, research and interdisciplinary comparison.
The total planned investment amounts to 3.5 million euros. The renovation phase will involve an area of 600 square meters distributed on two floors. The ground floor will house eight state-of-the-art scientific laboratories and a central area designed as an exhibition and popularization space, also accessible to the public. The upper level will house a meeting room, library and open space offices intended for the research team, as well as two open areas designed for networking and discussion activities among professionals. Completion of the first phase of work, which involves the construction of the ground floor, is scheduled for October 2026. The project aims to consolidate an international hub capable of developing new solutions for the preservation of cultural heritage, taking into account the challenges posed by the ecological and digital transition. Within this framework, the facility aims to foster scientific discussion and the strengthening of strategic partnerships with universities, research institutes, museums and industry.
The initial funding of 2.5 million euros comes from the Piedmont Region, within the funds of the Complementary Operational Plan 2014-2020. This was matched by support from the Ministry of Culture, which included funding for the completion of the rehabilitation of the former Lamarmora Galloping Ground in the 2026-2028 three-year public works program. The result was achieved through joint work involving President Alfonso Frugis and Superintendent Corrado Azzollini.
Additional institutional collaborations supported the project’s progress. The Metropolitan City of Turin acted as the sole contracting station, while the Municipality of Venaria Reale identified the new pole as one of the interventions to be included in the sustainability report of cultural interventions in the territories of the Piedmont Region. In fact, the initiative is among the experimental pilot projects of such a budget, aimed at measuring, evaluating and reporting on the positive impacts generated by culture in the territories. Alongside Venaria Reale, the path also involves the City of Cuneo. On the private support front, a crowdfunding campaign (a collective financing) aimed at purchasing new instrumentation and training young researchers has been launched with Intesa Sanpaolo. The For Funding campaign, which was active between July 2025 and March 2026, contributed to the upgrading of the future pole’s technological equipment. In parallel, the JRC has deployed a comprehensive fundraising plan, with the creation of a network of private and institutional donors and the activation of strategic research partnerships at the international level, with the aim of supporting the long-term growth of the facility.
On the technical side, the new hub will be equipped with laboratories equipped with advanced techniques for point analysis, mapping and surface imaging. Mobile and portable instrumentation are also planned, which will allow in situ diagnostic campaigns to be carried out. Such devices are essential for the study of works that cannot be moved from their places of conservation or for which sampling is not permitted. The orientation is to integrate high-precision scientific analyses with non-invasive methodologies, in line with international conservation standards.
The project is set in a context in which applied research on cultural heritage takes on a strategic role in heritage conservation and enhancement. The creation of a hub dedicated to diagnostics and innovation is intended to strengthen Italian competitiveness in an area where scientific expertise, advanced technologies and collaboration between public and private entities are determining factors. In this perspective, the new JRC hub in Venaria Reale is configured as an infrastructure destined to operate as a reference point in the international panorama of cultural heritage research.
“The project of the new scientific pole of the JRC,” stresses Alfonso Frugis, president of the JRC, “was one of my primary objectives to consolidate the role of the Center as a pole of international excellence, strengthening its scientific and operational capabilities and reinforcing Italy’s leadership in conservation and applied research on cultural heritage. This is the result of a long-term strategy, which reinforces our nature as an institute of innovation in the field of cultural heritage that, we hope, will generate positive impacts for the area on a cultural, economic and social level. We are honored to see that the commitment to support the project by the Piedmont Region, first, and the Ministry of Culture, later, confirms the recognition of the Center’s value.”
“The birth of the new science hub marks a crucial moment in the history of the Center,” says Federica Pozzi, director of CCR’s Science Laboratories. “It is a project designed to expand access to diagnostics and strengthen the JRC’s operational capabilities, creating a place where science and heritage dialogue in a structured and ongoing way. The new hub is not just an infrastructure: it is the expression of a shared vision, based on collaboration, research and sustainability, with the aim of contributing systematically and responsibly to the future of cultural heritage.”
“In Piedmont, culture represents one of the strategic engines of innovation and development. Through an investment of 2.5 million euros, the Region is promoting the birth of the new research hub at the Conservation Restoration Center ’La Venaria Reale,’ transforming a historic symbol such as the former Galoppatoio Lamarmora into a forge of the future,” says Piedmont Region President Alberto Cirio. “Here the most advanced technologies dialogue with art to preserve and enhance it, projecting our heritage on the international stage. The encounter between science and beauty generates a concrete impact on the territory, translating into economic growth, skilled work and new business opportunities. We thus consolidate Italian leadership in the world, offering a development model capable of attracting talent and strengthening regional identity. We choose to invest in knowledge to ensure solid progress, delivering to the next generations a living legacy that is a source of continuous inspiration. The support for this project is the outcome of a concrete collaboration between Councillors Gianluca Vignale, Andrea Tronzano, Marina Chiarelli and Maurizio Marrone who, together with Center President Alfonso Frugis, are designing a new laboratory of excellence where ancient roots nurture the vision of a tomorrow marked by efficiency and value.”
“To the Conservation Restoration Center,” emphasizes Deputy Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Turin Jacopo Suppo, “the Metropolitan City of Turin has entrusted strategic interventions on its heritage, from the restoration of volumes in the Library of History and Culture of Piedmont ”Giuseppe Grosso“ to the historic stained glass windows of Palazzo Cisterna. The birth of an increasingly specialized research and diagnostics pole represents a decisive qualitative leap: having advanced scientific expertise means being able to tackle even more complex restorations in the future, with tools adapted to the challenges of contemporary conservation.”
“With the new scientific hub of the JRC, Venaria Reale takes a further step toward fully enhancing its cultural identity,” says Fabio Giulivi, mayor of the City of Venaria Reale. “We are not only home to a city with a UNESCO site such as the world-renowned Reggia di Venaria monumental complex, but we are increasingly becoming an international laboratory of applied research in heritage conservation. This project dialogues with the path of the city’s Culture Hub, reinforcing a strategic vision that focuses on knowledge, innovation, participation and collaboration. This framework also includes the work we are carrying out on the sustainability report of the Municipality of Venaria Reale, built together with the city’s major cultural stakeholders, to measure and make the impact of cultural policies on the social, environmental and economic levels increasingly effective. The close collaboration between the JRC and the City represents a fundamental added value. Culture, for us, is not only heritage to be cherished, but a concrete lever of social cohesion and one of the main factors of economic development of the territory, capable of generating recognition and competitiveness on a global scale.”
“We have chosen to support the project of the scientific hub of the Centro Conservazione Restauro La Venaria Reale through the For Funding platform, in order to contribute concretely to the strengthening of scientific research applied to the protection of cultural heritage and to actively involve communities,” says Andrea Lecce, head of Intesa Sanpaolo’s Impact Direction. “For Funding hosts carefully selected social and cultural projects and, to date, has allowed us to raise more than 60 million euros in support of more than 500 initiatives. With the Impact Direction we accompany high-impact projects, providing dedicated financial tools and solutions to generate lasting value for territories.”
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| Venaria Reale, new hub for scientific research on cultural heritage is born at CCR |
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