Park Associati and Zucchi & Partners: Office building, Milano

In the new scheme, it was necessary to intervene with the refurbishment of the semi-basement. Here, a new entrance was created, accessed via a slightly ramped series of steps, in order to exploit a series of areas that were previously unused and to give the whole building a new look. On the outside, a new entrance canopy was built, clad entirely in panels made from aluminium and expanded mesh, in such a way as to alternate the solid and light elements that wrap around all the vertical and horizontal surfaces of the new structure. Almost an ‘accent’, a visible and strong mark towards the street, to indicate the presence of something new but also an element that draws the visitor into the heart of the building, the new semi-basement access level with specially designed foyer.

In this context, the relationship with the garden surrounding the building was also strengthened. While the canopy seems to open up suddenly, in a kind of telluric movement, it is mainly in the redesign of the site boundary that the new scheme is perceived.

Colour is also a key element of the design and makes itself evident right from the start, on the exterior, in the large existing square area of the old conference hall, now converted into a reception for one of the office areas, where acid-yellow glass has been fitted.

The scheme is completed with the refurbishment of the top floor of the building, the attic, that will accommodate new work areas, and the building of a new roof for the whole building that is strongly cantilevered with respect to the original perimeter. Finally, the elevations have been reworked, now highlighted by continuous slender wings in micro-perforated aluminium, accentuating the three-dimensional nature of the facades with effects of light and shade that change with the angle of the sunlight.

Park Associati e Zucchi & Partners: Office building, Milano
Architect: Park Associati (Filippo Pagliani, Michele Rossi)
Collaborators: Davide Pojaga (responsabile di progetto), Marian Beschoner, Fabio Calciati, Jennifer Gomes, Concalo Guerreiro, Marco Neri, Morihide Seki
Zucchi & Partners (Nicola Bianchi, Andrea Vigano, Cino Zucchi) with: Cinzia Barbaglia, Ivan Bernardini
Structures: Ing. Giorgio Piliego
Client: Generali Properties Asset Management
Realisation: ottobre 2010
Building contractor: MARK COLOR

Park Associati and Zucchi & Partners: Office building, Milano

Conversion of a 1950s building for tertiary industry.

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