Hampered by strict planning regulations, the architects had to build right up to a side wall of their building (the factory stands in a densely constructed industrial area in the outskirts of Milan) in order to attach it to the adjoining factory. As a result, they had to think very carefully about the angle created by the two street façades.
The structure thus became a function of the large reinforced concrete beams left visible on the roof whose exposed ends on the longitudinal façade emphasize the building’s segmentation. With its cylindric volume, concrete block “skin”and over-sized openings, the factory looks like an elegant fortress and even has a wooden access “drawbridge” over a basement area.
Inside, the spaces (5.800 square meters) were made as transparent as possible to generate visual communication on a vast scale.
The offices are set around an inside garden and a circular hall, with glass façades fully open to the interior.
The real heart of the factory – the workshops and stylists’ offices was designed as a plaza surrounded the other volumes facing each other on two levels.



total surface sqm 5800