Interview by Edimen – Diego Porzio talks about BeSpace Group SA: born in 2019 as a coworking space for architects, this project developed in Lugano has found fertile ground in the real estate sector, even reaching Dubai…

The common thread linking the events of the professional parabola of Diego Porzio, founder of BeSpace Group SA, is innovation. With a degree in Building Engineering-Architecture at the University of Pavia and first important experiences in Italy, Porzio moved to Ticino seven years ago to take an active part in the iWin – Innovative Windows project, a start-up that combines and exploits skills relating to architecture, engineering and environmental sustainability, which won the first edition of the Boldbrain Startup Challenge.

Then came the turn of BeSpace: an ‘aggregator of opportunities that links architecture, design and the real estate world’.

First of all: how did the idea for BeSpace come about?
I came to Ticino to participate in the iWin project, but a start-up does not provide financial support; on the contrary, it requires investment of time and money. Having a wife and three daughters, I felt I had to make a decision: one idea was to open my own architecture and engineering studio, as I had done in Italy; the other, more daring, was to create a shared space where architecture and design professionals could work together, with projects capable of involving external companies. I chose the second option and in 2019 I created BeSpace: a 300-square-metre space – on the top floor, with a rooftop – in Paradiso, with coworking stations dedicated to architects and partner companies already found.

At the beginning of 2020 everything was ready to start… Then we all know how it went: Covid and its lockdown blocked everything. However, quoting Rita Levi Montalcini, ‘you should not fear the worst times because the best comes from there’, and it was at that time that I came up with the idea of linking BeSpace to real estate. I was already in contact with Angelo Gurrado and Marcello Gatto Monticone, who at the time were directors of two real estate agencies in Lugano, and with them I set up BeSpace Group SA in 2021: to the original idea we therefore added a real estate division run by my partners.

How does the BeSpace business model work?
First of all we try to identify a property to be developed, such as a piece of land, a building or a villa: in the first phase we do not purchase the property but we propose a project, thanks to the work of our architects, including the products of our partners into the technical specifications document. Having then obtained the building permit, we present the project to two to three banks: a bank pre-approval usually covers 70 per cent anyway, for the other 30 per cent – which, in turn, guarantees the bank disbursement – we look for investors who believe in the project and participate in the operation.

Another interesting aspect is that companies that participate in the operation can invest in it. Most of our activities are in the residential sector, but there is also a focus on the hotel industry, especially boutique hotels. To date, we have four construction sites that follow this business model: two concern the renovation of small buildings (one in the centre of Lugano, the other in the Cassarate area) and two other sites for the construction of villas (four in Pura and six in Collina d’Oro). Once the project has been completed, the real estate agent in our team can put the flat or villa on the market ready to sell. But it doesn’t end there, because the client who is going to buy the property is also followed up in terms of furnishing and interior design.

Does BeSpace offer any other support services for those who use your space?
We are launching a platform dedicated to the architects, MyBeSpace, which will serve to optimise working time and manage the companies involved in projects even better. Architects will be able to enter the project into our platform and allow us to work out a complete solution, especially from the point of view of finishes and furniture. This is a very useful service because it allows architects to entrust the interior design part directly to us, avoiding the project itself ‘bouncing’ between the developer and the architect.

You have already mentioned four important building sites: are there any other projects under consideration?
Limiting ourselves to renovations, we are developing thirteen projects throughout Ticino: one of them, which is very interesting, concerns a hotel structure on Lake Maggiore, in the Brissago area, which we will transform into a boutique hotel or aparthotel – we are still deciding. We are also planning seven villas of very high standing in Vernate and other complex but potentially very beautiful initiatives, such as the restoration of Villa Bertola in Vacallo.

BeSpace starts in Ticino but it is not just Ticino: how do you relate to the foreign market?
We are replicating our experience in Dubai, where we have set up the company BeSpace Design and can operate with a team of four people, thanks to the licences we have obtained, throughout the entire territory of the Arab Emirates. We also follow foreign countries, however, from our headquarters in Lugano, where the team comprises twenty-five people: we have projects on the island of Boa Vista (Cape Verde), and in Fuerteventura (Spain, Canary Islands).

Also from Lugano, we are following a project in the Maldives, where recently introduced legislation allows foreign investors to buy land: we are collaborating on a project involving a building of thirty flats, as part of an initiative in collaboration with an architect from Milan and, of course, with our entire support structure.

The growth from the initial idea in 2019 has been very rapid: which are your plans in the future?
The idea is to keep expanding, containing costs thanks to the synergies we will be able to create as we are already doing in Switzerland. BeSpace is a generator of opportunities for everyone involved in the project, from the architect to partner companies, designers and real estate agents. It is a complete network. Often there are opportunities on the market – a villa, a penthouse or a flat – that are difficult to understand how to develop, what we do is just that: from the first renderings to the final realisation, we are talking about a vision. And this is exactly what we want to do, to continue to turn a vision into reality.

Article published in April 2024 in Tutto Casa – Edimen.