A 470-foot-tall “lighthouse” office tower will be the new Milan headquarters of Italian multi-utility company A2A. Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel (ACPV) designed the project.
The tower, dubbed Torre Faro (which means lighthouse tower in Italian), reimagines the company’s office spaces to adapt to people’s ever-changing needs at work while reviving the local urban fabric with 68,000 sf of green spaces. The project will connect Milan’s historic center and periphery by reactivating a north-south axis that runs from the city center through Via Crema and Piazza Trento all the way to ACPV’s Symbiosis business district.
“The A2A Headquarters project creates a new vertical village for the firm’s operations. It is designed for people to enjoy working in the company of their colleagues and to encourage spontaneous professional and personal interactions,” said Antonio Citterio, Architect and Co-Founder of ACPV, in a release.
The new tower will be able to accommodate 1,500 people across flexible spaces and a green courtyard that will be shared with the Museum of Energy, which is located inside the existing buildings that will be revitalized with the project.
Sky Garden 200 feet up will highlight the Torre Faro tower
Torre Faro will be divided in the middle into two sets of office floors framed by the spacious entrance hall on the ground floor, the Sky Garden in the middle, and the Belvedere on top. The Sky Garden will exist 200 feet up the tower while the Belvedere sits 410 feet high. Both will provide panoramic views of Milan.
A large atrium and a suspended mezzanine creates a welcoming environment that is enhanced by the multifunctional office spaces located not he floors above. Co-working lounges and informal meeting rooms can be reconfigured for multiple uses.
Beyond the A2A Headquarters, the urban regeneration project extends from the neighboring Piazza Trento to the closest metro station through Via Crema. Also included are enlarged pedestrian areas, two new squares, additional green areas, and bicycle paths.
The project is slated for completion in 2024.
Related Stories
| Oct 13, 2010
HQ renovations aim for modern look
Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel Architects’ renovations to the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s New York City headquarters will feature a reworked reception lobby with back-painted glass, silk-screened logos, and a video wall.
| Oct 13, 2010
County building aims for the sun, shade
The 187,032-sf East County Hall of Justice in Dublin, Calif., will be oriented to take advantage of daylighting, with exterior sunshades preventing unwanted heat gain and glare. The building is targeting LEED Silver. Strong horizontal massing helps both buildings better match their low-rise and residential neighbors.
| Oct 12, 2010
Guardian Building, Detroit, Mich.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. The relocation and consolidation of hundreds of employees from seven departments of Wayne County, Mich., into the historic Guardian Building in downtown Detroit is a refreshing tale of smart government planning and clever financial management that will benefit taxpayers in the economically distressed region for years to come.
| Oct 12, 2010
The Watch Factory, Waltham, Mass.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards — Gold Award. When the Boston Watch Company opened its factory in 1854 on the banks of the Charles River in Waltham, Mass., the area was far enough away from the dust, dirt, and grime of Boston to safely assemble delicate watch parts.
| Oct 12, 2010
Building 13 Naval Station, Great Lakes, Ill.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Gold Award. Designed by Chicago architect Jarvis Hunt and constructed in 1903, Building 13 is one of 39 structures within the Great Lakes Historic District at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill.
| Oct 12, 2010
From ‘Plain Box’ to Community Asset
The Mid-Ohio Foodbank helps provide 55,000 meals a day to the hungry. Who would guess that it was once a nondescript mattress factory?
| Oct 11, 2010
HGA wins 25-Year Award from AIA Minnesota
HGA Architects and Engineers won a 25-Year Award from AIA Minnesota for the Willow Lake Laboratory.
| Oct 8, 2010
Union Bank’S San Diego HQ awarded LEED Gold
Union Bank’s San Diego headquarters building located at 530 B Street has been awarded LEED Gold certification from the Green Building Certification Institute under the standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council. Gold status was awarded to six buildings across the United States in the most recent certification and Union Bank’s San Diego headquarters building is one of only two in California.
| Oct 6, 2010
Windows Keep Green Goals in View
The DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has almost 600 window openings, and yet it's targeting LEED Platinum, net-zero energy use, and 50% improvement over ASHRAE 90.1. How the window ‘problem’ is part of the solution.
| Sep 21, 2010
New BOMA-Kingsley Report Shows Compression in Utilities and Total Operating Expenses
A new report from the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and Kingsley Associates shows that property professionals are trimming building operating expenses to stay competitive in today’s challenging marketplace. The report, which analyzes data from BOMA International’s 2010 Experience Exchange Report® (EER), revealed a $0.09 (1.1 percent) decrease in total operating expenses for U.S. private-sector buildings during 2009.