Politecnica Annual Report 2021

Our 2021 was a year of challenges and success, we have taken advantage of the restart after the most difficult phase of the health emergency and close the first year of our 2021-2023 business plan by reaching, sometimes even exceeding, the set targets. This is an excellent omen for 2022, when Politecnica celebrates 50 years of history, which allows us to look to the future with the confidence coming from the strength of our roots and the concreteness of the work we have done together.

2021 numbers and growth

In terms of economic results, for the first time we exceeded 21 Mln€ in turnover and 55 Mln€ in portfolio. We have consolidated our presence abroad and, in Italy, we have been leading players in the public sector and we have also grown remarkably in the private market.

This strengthens our perspectives at the end of the three-year period, despite a very uncertain market influenced by the increase in energy costs and supply of raw materials.

This year we saw a growth not only in the number, but also in the value and size of the projects acquired: in the private markets we practically doubled (+97.5%) 2020 results. The projects acquired, over 80 this year, have enabled our order book pipeline to record a value of €55Mln, + 34.5% compared to the previous year, thus testifying to the breadth of skills and experience we have achieved and which the market recognises, both in Italy and abroad.

Furthermore, by participating in 150 tenders, we increased the value of assignments by 89%, versus the previous year. In 2021 we completed 74 assignments.

The projects

Many projects have involved intensive participatory design work. We refer tothe new Civic Center in Follonica, the PTAV for the Piacenza area or the new school complex in Norcia. Also, the project for new bridge over the Magra river, which is of high engineering value, gained a great contribution through the participation of different stakeholders; the transformation of Bergamo station project, which - supported by the PNRR - responds simultaneously to the objectives of suburban connection and aggregation to the local community. Abroad we have worked with the community of Saint Vincent in the Grenadines Islands.

In the healthcare sector, which has gained momentum and strategic importance with the Covid emergency and the Next Generation EU plan, I would like to mention here two projects among many others. The first one concerns the expansion of the new university hospital of Køge in Denmark, the other is the complex intervention aimed at capitalising on the experience of pandemic emergency, providing a group of national hospitals, ranging from Lombardy to Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, with greater flexibility, safety and capacity.

As to Sustainability, among the main certified projects there are Green Life, the new Crédit-Agricole management centre (LEED® Platinum Certification) in Parma and the new Mapei Football Center (LEED® Certified) in Sassuolo. Among the projects that testify to the degree of commitment to sustainability and the future, in 2021 we consider as emblematic the LEED® Gold Certification for Cluster 5 in Milano Sesto, as well as the value brought to the regeneration of the former Porta Romana railway station through the Envision® protocol.

Worthy of mention are the certification of the new Building 9.11 in 2015 Expo area in Milan,

one of the first interventions to give shape and substance to the futuristic MIND Village, the expansion of Bulgari Manufactory in Valenza andthe new EU Joint Research Centre Restaurant in Ispra, designed to minimise the built environment and protect the biodiversity features of the site, in line with the directives of the BREEAM protocol.

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

The use of BIM technologies enabled us to overcome important challenges and be ready for future ones, since the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) reserves a fundamental role for the digitalisation and regulation of construction processes. This is why in 2021 we have increased investments in new equipment and skills acquisition by around 12%. This commitment has earned us the BIM&DIGITAL Awards 21: in the Public Buildings category with the EU Restaurant in Ispra, in the Infrastructure category with the design of the new Milan Linate Control Tower.

Care and cooperation: our people in 2021

Politecnica is now a community of 259 professionals, made up of engineers (47%), architects (31%), technicians and experts (15%) with an average age of 36. In 2021 we welcomed 24 new professionals and increased our investment in training.

Members, collaborators and employees are central to Politecnica. We devote our attention to them through corporate welfarepolicies reconciling work and family commitments, promoting professional training and inclusion initiatives in favour of gender equality and female employment, respect for diversity. Reconciliation and equal opportunities form part of our DNA. 47% of our staff are women, compared with 30% of female graduates in science and engineering in Italy.

For this reason, first among the integrated design companies in Italy, Politecnica this year wanted and obtained the IDEM Certification, which anticipates the certification requirements provided for by the governance of the PNRR and the goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.

We support all requests for part-time work for family reasons,and facilitate paternity leave providing, in our supplementary company agreement, for 7 more days than required by law.

In the same spirit, we have joined AIW's ROOTS project, an initiative for women’s empowerment that promotes job placement by creating new social connections, offering a reference point for the community.

Cooperation on training and research

This year we have also strengthenedourcooperation with the Universities of Florence, Genoa, Molise, Naples, Padua, Parma, Perugia, Pisa, Milan, Reggio Emilia, Bologna and Modena, San Marino, IUAV Venice, Ferrara and Turin by setting t up 17 curricular and extra-curricular courses (+21% versus 2020). We joined the Joint Research Platform Healthcare Infrastructures, the platform of excellence for companies and institutions in the healthcare sector, led by Milan Polytechnic University, Department ABC Design & Health Lab and by the Milan Polytechnic Foundation. The results achieved in 2021 are reflected in our institutionalcommunication activities: more than 280 articles, press releases and interviews to tell the story of our projects and above all of who we are now and who we want to continue being in the future.

Looking ahead to 2022

2022 is a milestone for us: Politecnica is 50 years old. This is a confirmation of the value of our cooperative model, we are proud today to see it projecting into the future. However, we cannot ignore the existence of multiple external variables: an ongoing conflict, the energy and raw materials supply crises may affect the smooth progress of construction sites and markets. Despite this, we are confident. Throughout our long experience we have faced and overcome complex moments.

In 2022 we expect to exceed 6.5 Mln euros in net assets: we consider this value, which we have never reached before, an indicator of the health and solidity of our company.

For the years 2022/2023 we reconfirm the strategic guidelines that have brought us this far: increasing our production capacity, developing the foreign market in specific geographical areas (Caribbean, Northern Europe, South America), continually strengthening the domestic private and public markets and fully developing Milan office.

The public market is expected to be strongly influenced by the PNRR. We are ready to face a big effort, as required by public tendering. The core strategy, in the medium term, is to leverage the quite lively moment of demand for engineering and architecture being experienced in Italy to invest and lay firm foundations abroad, to create alternatives to the domestic market on which to focus when the effects of the PNRR fade.

In 2022 we expect a works value increase to €24m, which we plan to maintain in 2023 (capped growth) together with 10% growth of our team.