CANOTTIERI VITTORINO DA FELTRE: OUTDOOR BAR AND RESTAURANT DESIGN IN PIACENZA
From an underused green area to the beating heart of a riverside park
This is what happens when a historic sports club with 2,000 members decides to transform an underused green area into a place for everyday life. The Società Canottieri Vittorino da Feltre in Piacenza — a sports institution with decades of tradition — had a magnificent park stretching along the Po river. But the pool area emptied out every evening at sunset. The decision: to commission VANDA Designers for the
outdoor bar restaurant design of a kiosk that could become the social hub for its members. A hospitality project that carried real complexity: the site falls within a protected riverside park, subject to heritage authority approval from the Soprintendenza.
Outdoor bar restaurant design in a heritage-protected landscape
Building new structures in protected areas requires more than technical expertise in commercial architecture. It requires patience, dialogue with authorities, and the ability to design solutions that respect the context without sacrificing function. VANDA managed the entire permitting process with the Soprintendenza, presenting a project that integrated harmoniously with the park’s natural setting. No disruptive structures, no elements foreign to the landscape. Only wood, masonry, and a colour palette drawn from the Canottieri’s club colours: white and red.
The project challenge: 5 months, turnkey delivery
Complete everything in 5 months to allow opening at the start of the summer season. Permits, construction from scratch, full MEP installation, furnishings — all turnkey. That challenge was accepted and met on schedule.
The design: outdoor structures in dialogue with the park
The heart of the project is the bar-restaurant kiosk: a 50 sqm structure in masonry and wood housing a complete professional kitchen. Not just a refreshment point, but a full restaurant capable of serving lunch and dinner throughout the entire season.
The covered terrace
White-painted exposed timber structure with natural beams creating a welcoming visual rhythm. A natural wood bar counter equipped with all necessary installations. Woven natural-fibre pendant lights hang from the ceiling creating atmosphere — on summer evenings they become the luminous centrepiece of the space.
The bioclimatic pergolas
Iron pergolas with adjustable louvres, painted in coordinated red matching the club colours, define dining zones sheltered from the sun yet open to the landscape. The adjustable louvres allow the shading to be adapted throughout the day, ensuring comfort from midday right through to sunset.
The service cabins
Designed as beach huts, the service cabins house two bathrooms and two changing rooms. Masonry and wood, painted in the club’s white and red. The exposed timber roof echoes the kiosk terrace, creating visual continuity across all the park structures — a detail that ties the entire intervention together.
Flexible furnishings for every moment of the day
Tables and chairs in various sizes and finishes, designed to withstand outdoor conditions without sacrificing comfort. Small tables for two, large tables for families, rearrangeable seating. Pre-training breakfast, family lunch, evening aperitivo. The same space, countless uses — thanks to an outdoor furniture design conceived for maximum flexibility. External lighting completes the experience, animating the spaces after dark and transforming the park into somewhere to stay, not just pass through.
Integrated project management: MEP, construction, furnishings
Turnkey means exactly this: no surprises, no unknown subcontractors, no “that wasn’t included”. VANDA personally coordinated every technical aspect — electrical installation for lighting and kitchen, plumbing for bathrooms and bar, coordination across all construction phases. The result is a coherent project from start to finish, where every element works perfectly because it was conceived as part of a whole.
The outcome: a space that transforms life in the park
The new kiosk did more than fill a physical space. It transformed the way members experience the park. Before the intervention, the pool area was busy during the day and emptied at sunset. Today it is a lively destination from April to October, dawn to dusk. Families linger after swimming. Athletes extend their post-training time. Members organise dinners, aperitivos, summer evenings together.
What began as a functional need — serving food and drink — has become a social catalyst. This is what the best outdoor bar restaurant design achieves: it doesn’t just build spaces, it creates the conditions for people to meet, stay, and come back.
The Canottieri Vittorino da Feltre is one of Piacenza’s oldest and most active sports societies, and this project is a testament to what a community space can become when design is taken seriously.
