Expansion and Renovation of the Calco Facility

Work began in September 2025 and encompasses the entire production site: a new precision optics department, a dedicated metrological laboratory, a testing facility in a controlled environment, and complete refurbishment of the existing building. Completion is expected in summer 2027.

Tecnottica Consonni has launched the expansion and refurbishment of its Calco facility, the company’s historic headquarters since 1957. The work, which began in September 2025 and is scheduled for completion in summer 2027, is not simply the construction of a new building: it represents a comprehensive redesign of the entire production infrastructure, conceived to support the company’s growth over the coming years.

Two distinct but convergent drivers

The first is structural: the existing spaces had reached saturation, making it impossible to continue investing in new machinery and technologies without rethinking the company’s physical organization.

The second is technical: the applications Tecnottica works on today, aerospace, defense, laser, biomedical, high-performance imaging, require increasingly controlled environmental conditions, both during processing and during measurement and testing phases. Environments not designed for these needs introduce process variability, and variability is incompatible with the tolerances demanded by these sectors.

The 4 core Areas of the new facility

The new building has been designed to follow the actual sequence of the production flow, with the goal of minimizing internal movement, preventing cross-contamination between departments, and ensuring continuous progression from machining through final inspection.

Precision Optics Department

The first component is the new precision optics department, which includes two distinct production areas: one dedicated to rough machining and polishing, and one to centering. These are environmentally separated to ensure cleanliness, reduce contamination, and maintain optimal conditions at every stage.

Metrological Laboratory

The second is the new metrological laboratory, positioned at the center of the production flow. Until now, the company’s measurement technologies were distributed across different points in the facility; the new laboratory consolidates them in a single controlled environment with anti-vibration flooring and constant temperature and humidity.

The reason is technical: even imperceptible microvibrations can alter readings on high-precision measurement instruments, and temperature variations between summer and winter affect the behavior of optical materials during processing. Eliminating these external variables means making measurements more accurate, repeatable, and comparable over time.

Testing Department

The third element is the new testing facility, also in a controlled environment, designed for final cosmetic and functional inspection phases. It includes a dedicated ISO 7 chamber for optical inspection activities, eliminating the risk of particulate contamination during inspection and processing of the most critical components.

Technical and Operational Offices

The fourth intervention concerns new technical and operational offices on the upper level, along with complete refurbishment of existing spaces, integrated with the new building to form a single production complex that is functionally and architecturally coherent.

A Project involving the entire site

The expansion is accompanied by a series of interventions on the building and general systems. On the energy front, a 100 kW photovoltaic system will be installed, accompanied by a new medium-voltage cabin with availability up to 400 kW, sized to support future technology investments. Electric vehicle charging stations and new common spaces for employees are also planned.

Architecturally, the existing building will undergo facade refurbishment that brings it into visual alignment with the new structure, transforming the two bodies into a single recognizable complex.

“The main message is that this investment does not arise simply from the need for additional space,” explains Alberto Fasoli, Chief Operating Officer of Tecnottica Consonni. “The objective is to create a production system designed to guarantee the highest level of quality, precision, and repeatability across every single company process. At the same time, it represents Tecnottica’s commitment to continue investing in its own growth, anticipating future market needs, and building today the infrastructure necessary to face the challenges of the coming years.”

The sectors that will benefit most from the new capabilities are those with the highest technical requirements: aerospace, laser, biomedical, and high-performance imaging, where quality, metrological precision, and process stability are not optional but necessary conditions for operation.