Bird Box Srl
Via Colomba 18, Ferrara 44121 IT
Info and Booking
C.F. / VAT: 02095350381
REA FE-225435
Share Capital €10,000 paid in full
birdbox@pec.birdbox.it
Our history
If a place has a story, it remains in memory forever.
Bird Box was founded with a simple mission: to provide italian and international students with exceptional accommodation in Ferrara's most desirable location. We understand the challenges of studying and have created spaces that feel like home. Our commitment to quality, community, and student wellbeing has made us the preferred choice for students from over 30 countries. We're not just providing rooms – we're offering a supportive environment where students live and study with serendipity.
Recovery and enhancement
The building between Piazzetta San Nicolò and Via Colomba represents a rare example of continuous transformation of an architectural complex over the centuries, from a Renaissance patrician palace to a municipal stable, then a public slaughterhouse, and today a STUDENT RESIDENCE and protected historical testimony. Its evolution reflects the changing functional needs of the city, but also the ability to adapt the building heritage to new functional uses without erasing its memory.
The many architectural traces still visible – from the red marble columns to the enclosed loggias, from the chiseled coats of arms to the carved wooden ceilings – provide a rich and complex image of a building that has lived many lives, but still preserves its historical and cultural dignity intact. The recognition as a cultural asset is a sign of renewed attention towards the conscious recovery of historic spaces, so that they can continue to tell the story of those who built, inhabited, and transformed them over time.
In 2009, the complex known as “Ex Macello” was officially declared a site of cultural interest, as evidence of its architectural and historical value, and its relevance for the urban memory of the city. This recognition helped to strengthen the commitment of the latest restoration in 2023 aimed at the protection and enhancement of the ancient building heritage, not only as an aesthetic element, but as an integral part of the social and urban history of the community.
Original structure and transformations
Originally, in the 16th century, it was an elegant manor house with a U-shaped plan, an inner courtyard, loggias, and service rooms. On the walls of the building's façade there are still numerous historical traces, including arched brick sections that corresponded to windows now walled up. Other architectural elements are also found on the interior walls. The entire building is surrounded by a 16th-century brick cornice, which continues inside the courtyard as well.
The building underwent significant transformations over the centuries: starting from the early 19th century, becoming a cavalry barracks. Subsequently, the entire complex was acquired by the Municipality, which converted it into a horse stable and from around 1920 into a public slaughterhouse, serving the city. This new use marked a significant milestone still present in the historical memory of the people, so much so that it is still referred to as the Ex Macello or Bassa Macelleria.
In the 1970s, after a period of abandonment and decay, the building underwent a first major restoration intervention by the Municipality, which converted it into a public office. Although no graphic documentation (drawings or plans) of the project has survived, it is known that the works aimed at consolidating the existing structures, restoring the original masonry, and rebuilding the floors.
