As the world’s eyes fixate on Paris, home of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games, construction crews are working around the clock to deliver the Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Games, kicking off in February 2026.
This includes the Athletes Village, a “self-sustaining neighbourhood” kitted out with solar panels, roof gardens, and mass timber systems, scheduled to open in July 2025, 12 months from now.
Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)—responsible for New York City’s Moynihan Connector—the timber-rich village will be constructed with “minimal environmental impact” and be the first to meet NZEB (or Nearly Zero Energy Building) requirements.
And like the Paris Athletes Village – now occupied by 14,000 athletes hungry for success – many in rooms sandwiched by laminated veneer lumber floors and ceiling panels – SOM is looking beyond just the 3,500 athletes occupying the village during the games:
“Rather than ceasing to be of use after the Olympics, the Porta Romana Olympic Village will ultimately become a vibrant, self-sustaining neighbourhood built around the principles of social equity, environmental commitment, wellness, and inclusivity,” said SOM partner Colin Koop.
“The village adopts the rhythm of the area’s streetscape, creating a porous urban block with a variety of public spaces and communal anchors that will enhance Milan’s vibrant tapestry of ground-floor experiences.”
Olympic organisers are now looking to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo for guidance.
Last year, Wood Central revealed that the design of the 2032 Athletes Village in Brisbane is “the impressive timber story emerging” from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.”
Wood Central understands that SOM’s proposal includes retrofitting two historic structures on site and constructing six timber buildings to accommodate athletes during the games. Following the games, the buildings will become student and affordable housing. The predominantly mass timber buildings—built in a linear bar format with terraces—will take cues from historic Milanese architecture while utilising contemporary materials, like low-embodied carbon facades.
Led by developer COIMA, the village is creating a sustainable urban community with various green credentials. Manfredi Catella, COIMA founder and CEO, added: “The 2026 Olympic Village will represent a new urban laboratory for Milan, the first to be designed and built in its future configuration with spaces, functions and materials already designed for their conversion, meeting NZEB principles.”
The Olympic Village is due to be completed eight months before the 2026 Winter Games, scheduled for 6 to 22 February 2026. Officially, the XXV Olympic Winter Games will be jointly hosted by the city of Milan and the Cortina d’Ampezzo ski resort, located 255 miles away in Italy’s Dolomite mountains.
