Key Project Data
- Location: Milan, Italy
- Sector: Student accommodation
- Architect: Nasini Architetti
- Main Contractor: Percassi Spa
- Total beds: 700
- Bathroom pods supplied: 694 lightweight prefabricated units
- Sterchele scope: Design coordination, off-site manufacture, staged delivery, and on-site technical integration support through installation and commissioning
The Challenge
Collegiate Milan North delivers 700 student beds across multiple room types, supported by extensive communal facilities including study areas, conference spaces, leisure amenities, and fitness areas.
A development of this scale required consistent bathroom integration across varied room layouts while maintaining dimensional control and sequencing discipline. Student accommodation projects typically involve high levels of repetition within compact footprints, increasing coordination demands across structural and MEP interfaces.
The project required a delivery strategy capable of maintaining programme reliability while ensuring uniform quality standards across several hundred bathrooms.
Our Solution
Sterchele designed, manufactured, and delivered 694 fully finished prefabricated bathroom pods, developed to integrate directly with the building’s structural and services strategy.
Our involvement included:
- Detailed design coordination to align pod geometry with multiple room typologies
- Interface alignment with drainage, ventilation, and containment systems
- Development of an on-site prototype “sample pod” to validate layout, finishes, and service connections prior to full production
- Factory-controlled manufacture with defined inspection and quality verification stages
- Staged delivery aligned with installation sequencing
- On-site technical presence during installation and commissioning to support coordinated service integration
The bathroom package was incorporated as a controlled modular element within the overall construction programme.
Why Prefabricated Pods Were Effective
On a high-volume student accommodation development, prefabrication provided operational clarity:
- Consolidation of multi-trade bathroom works into a single manufactured unit
- Repeatable installation methodology across varied but standardised layouts
- Reduced labour intensity across multiple floors progressing concurrently
- Standardised quality verification prior to delivery
- Installation sequencing aligned with structural and fit-out progression
The bathroom scope transitioned from dispersed site-based activity to a coordinated modular installation process.
Outcome
The adoption of prefabricated pods transformed bathroom delivery from variable, multi-trade on-site construction to a controlled and repeatable modular process across 694 units.
This supported:
- Programme predictability across a high-density student scheme
- Reduced trade congestion during peak installation phases
- Consistent dimensional and finish standards across all room types
- Clear interface coordination between pod services and the building infrastructure
By integrating design coordination, manufacture, staged delivery, and on-site technical support within a structured scope, the bathroom package was delivered as a coordinated system suited to large-scale student accommodation.
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