In 1924 the administration of the General Warehouses decided to build a maritime station for passengers in Trieste. The fascist government includes this construction among the immediate public works. The Trieste maritime station was designed by Umberto Nordio and Giacomo Zammattio and was built between 1926 and 1930. The building is located on the Bersaglieri Pier and is the result of the transformation of the first of the two warehouses (41 and 42), which during the Habsburg domination were mainly intended for the storage of imported wines from the Kingdom of Italy.

Between 1915 and 1925 the size of the new passenger ships increased and the port of Trieste had to cope with the increase in passenger traffic. The project is entrusted by the General Warehouses to the Trieste architect Giacomo Zammattio and Umberto Nordio. In 1927 Zammattio died leaving the design in the hands of Nordio who reviewed the entire building. Umberto Nordio solves with happy results the problems posed by many constraints, exploiting the characteristics of reinforced concrete that allow the elimination of the second order of pillars, simplifying the pediment that will be completed on the sides of the clock by two large bas-reliefs.Nordio's personal conception of art led him to directly take care of the aesthetics of every detail of the work, including chandeliers and floors[2].

In 1933 the building was recognized by "Emporium", a famous Italian magazine of arts and graphics[3], as one of the five works that marked the beginning of modern architecture in Italy.