The Velasca Tower restoration and redevelopment project overseen by Hines, a global real estate investment, development and management company, will be completed by mid-2024. The Velasca Tower is not only the best-known achievement of the BBPR firm, but also the most faithful built transcript of the thought of Ernesto Nathan Rogers, who in those same years introduced the novel notions of "pre-existence," "environment," and "continuity" into the architectural debate. The new project follows these principles and updates them according to the most urgent challenges of contemporary times, recovering and revitalizing in a sustainable way the original functions of use, including retail, offices and apartments, while fully respecting their characteristic elements, and enriching them with new spaces open to the public, such as two restaurants, business and wellness areas.

First, the project restored the facade to its original state: weathering over the past 70 years had deeply deteriorated the building's exterior surfaces, which had now lost their original colors. In order to succeed in restoring the authentic hue, a team conducted scientific textural analysis of the plaster, field studies, historical documentary research, and recovered evidence to restore all the authentic elements of the time and bring back the original hue of all the components that make up the facade. The facade restoration work was not only aesthetic and architectural in nature, but also structural consolidation.

With the same "artisanal" care and meticulousness, a team composed of an average of more than 100 skilled workers also takes care on a daily basis of the interior regeneration project aimed at maintaining a delicate balance between the recovery and preservation of iconic elements designed by the BBPR studio and the integration of state-of-the-art finishes, systems and technology, in line with the highest standards of environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, with the goal of obtaining LEED Gold international certification. In fact, the language of the 1950s will be preserved, with a great effort of restoration and conservative rehabilitation, using both the same techniques and the original materials, such as: seeded, handcrafted ceramic materials in various sizes and colors, woods; in the offices synthetic flooring, as a typical expression of those years. Also subject to restoration are historical elements such as the two street lamps on the square designed by BBPR.

An integral part of the project concerns the renewed private space for public use adjacent to the building. In fact, with the new Piazza Velasca, the articulated project aimed at giving light back to a symbol of Milan and transforming it into a place for meeting and social gathering is completed. The pedestrian access to the building, the recovery of adjacent spaces that were previously unused, and the street furniture will give back to Milan a new area open to the city that reclaims the very meaning of "square," restoring its historical role as a meeting place for the community and thus strengthening the sense of belonging of the Milanese. The square aims to give the right value to one of the symbols of Italian architecture with a space enriched with benches and olive trees, magnolias and green areas, with a project with a strong vocation for environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. The project was inspired by the principles of preservation and enhancement of the square while respecting the Velasca Tower and the architectural context, envisaging a total change in favor of pedestrianization and improvement of environmental quality. The Tower will fit fully into the contemporary concept of the "15-minute city" with streamlined mobility and internet connection infrastructures, exploiting the surrounding spaces as places to stop, relax and even work.