British architect to renovate 500-year old part of St Mark’s Square in Venice

British architect David Chipperfield is bringing his expertise in restoring historic buildings to a familiar, but perhaps overlooked, 500-year-old palazzo that forms part of the colonnaded perimeter of Venice’s St Mark’s Square.

The project is the initiative of the Italian insurer Generali, which made its Italian headquarters in the Procuratie Vecchie palace from 1832 and will launch a new initiative in the restored structure to help disadvantaged people around the world.

“Behind this fantastic facade is a much more jumbled building, and the building has been modified over time, for practical and technical reasons,” Chipperfield said.

“And through those modifications it has lost some of its character integrity, some of its history. Really, the challenge is to sort it out a bit, tidy it up and get it back into a better shape.”

The restoration involves 11,000 square meters over four floors and is to be completed by 2020. The restored building will be open to the public for the first time in 500 years, with events around Generali’s new Human Safety Net initiative, which will bring together organisations working to help refugees launch businesses, aid disadvantaged families with small children and work on a project involving newborn health.