Milano Centrale is getting a new look: here’s what it will be like after the major redevelopment

Starting in summer 2027, travelers arriving in Milan will encounter a very different Central Station from the one they know today. Grandi Stazioni Retail and FS Sistemi Urbani have unveiled a 20 million euro redevelopment project that will transform the ground floor and mezzanine levels of the landmark building designed by Ulisse Stacchini, more than 120 years after construction first began. The project has been designed by Park, the architecture practice selected through a competition organized by Grandi Stazioni Retail. The choice of the Milan-based firm is no coincidence. For more than 25 years, Park has focused on the transformation of existing buildings, and in recent years it has led some of the city’s most significant interventions on modern architectural heritage, including the restoration of Michelangelo Tower, Torre della Permanente, and the recent renovation of Palazzo Galbani.

Rather than introducing new architectural elements, the project is based on a reinterpretation of Milan Central Station’s architecture and the materials that have shaped its identity. The goal is to bring some of the building’s original spatial qualities back into focus and restore greater coherence to a place used by more than 260,000 people every day. The most visible change will be the return of ticket offices to the Historic Hall, restoring the space to the function for which it was originally conceived. The project also includes redesigned flooring, the restoration of the internal façades along the retail gallery, a new lighting system, and a reorganization of passenger circulation routes. Together, these interventions aim to make a space shaped by decades of modifications easier to navigate and understand.

Opened in 1931, Milan Central Station has evolved into far more than a transportation hub. It is now an urban destination used by tourists, workers, visitors, and local residents, as well as by travelers and commuters. This dual identity lies at the heart of the redevelopment project. Today, Milan Central Station is simultaneously a monument, a railway station, a shopping destination, and one of the city’s main gateways. Park’s challenge is to reconcile these different roles, recovering key aspects of the building’s original character while preserving the functions that have redefined its place in Milan over the past decades.