H3 Factory is an innovation hub on the island of Giudecca where creativity is fostered and shared in a synergistic ecosystem that blends scientific research, performance art and startup development within the restored former church of Saints Cosmas and Damian.
ECOSYSTEM | ART & CULTURE | COWORKING | HISTORY
Within the H3 Factory space SerenDPT hosts companies, associations and professionals with heterogeneous profiles and skills, encouraging meeting and collaboration for the development of relationships for the benefit of the entire community.
Art & Culture
SerenDPT believes that a truly creative ecosystem should blend science and technology with art and culture, creating an inclusive and stimulating work environment. Since moving to Fabbrica H3 (formerly the church of Saints Cosma and Damiano), SerenDPT has hosted creative minds and artists in residence and a series of artistic installations and musical performances in the elegant apse.
Coworking
H3 Factory is equipped with spaces with different characteristics that offer the possibility of creating a network of shared knowledge with the professionals who work next to you. A shared room with single workstations, private rooms for small meetings, larger rooms for larger meetings, workshops, presentations and events.
H3 Factory, SerenDPT's headquarters, is located inside the ex-church of Saints Cosmas and Damian on the Giudecca island in Venice. The complex has an interesting history, starting as a church in the 1500’s, then becoming a garment factory for a 100 years, until becoming a startup incubator in the most recent past.
H I S T O R Y
The church, consecrated in 1583, was part of the adjacent Benedictine convent. In the 1700s, the walls were adorned with paintings by Palma il Giovane, Tintoretto, Tiepolo, Padovanino, Ricci, and others. With the fall of the Serenissima Republic in 1797, religious communities throughout Venice were forcibly closed or faced hardships. The convent was dissolved in 1806, leading to the dispersal of all the artistic heritage preserved there except for the frescoes in the apse, which were created by Girolamo Pellegrini in 1672. Deconsecrated after the Napoleonic invasion, it assumed the various roles until it was converted, in 1887, during the industrial revolution, as a factory for the production of yarns and textiles. The factory closed in 1987 and the City of Venice acquired the building in the 1990's.
T O D A Y
Thanks to the commitment of the City of Venice, a careful restoration was carried out, co-financed by the Veneto Region through the European Regional Development Funds. The adaptive reuse project, designed and supervised by architect Claudio Spagnol, began in 2003 and continued until 2008. The project established the complex as a business incubator managed by the City. In 2018, SerenDPT took over its management through a public tender.