Chemistry laboratories

For the building of the Chemistry Faculty of the Università dell’Insubria in Como, Italy, Onsitestudio chose a square plan and a corten skin.

Onsitestudio, Laboratori di chimica, Como

The project for the facility of the Department of Chemistry of the University of Insubria is composed of a building with five above-ground levels containing research labs and offices, and a building with one level above ground containing storerooms for the technical gases.

Onsitestudio, Chemistry laboratories, Como

The modular volumes of the Setificio (silk mill) and the imposing presence of the cylindrical university building coexist with the established urban fabric along Via Valleggio. The complexity of the place has led to the choice of a pure volume, a 25 meters on each side: the compact character of the building thus generates a relationship with the existing cylindrical building, using the same volumetric simplicity. The square plan is reflected in the internal spatial organization, based on a system of concentric bands, and in the structural concept composed of a double shell in reinforced concrete.

The outer wall is perforated by openings of three different sizes, positioned according to the exposure and the internal functions, and is entirely wrapped by precious facing that permits ventilation of the facade. The metal enclosure conceals the technical elements of the laboratories and is composed of oxidized Cor-ten segments, variously perforated in hexagonal forms.

The building is aligned with the main urban axis and concludes the large existing centrifugal space, while a small technical volume is rotated to take on the orientation of the Setificio.

The departmental facility is accessed from a pedestrian entrance located at the southwest corner of the cube: this generates a plaza perfectly exposed to sunlight, on which the concentric paths that cross the large open space on Via Valleggio converge.