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.
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
| May 23, 2014
Big design, small package: AIA Chicago names 2014 Small Project Awards winners
Winning projects include an events center for Mies van der Rohe's landmark Farnsworth House and a new boathouse along the Chicago river.
| May 23, 2014
Top interior design trends: Gensler, HOK, FXFOWLE, Mancini Duffy weigh in
Tech-friendly furniture, “live walls,” sit-stand desks, and circadian lighting are among the emerging trends identified by leading interior designers.
| May 22, 2014
Big Data meets data centers – What the coming DCIM boom means to owners and Building Teams
The demand for sophisticated facility monitoring solutions has spurred a new market segment—data center infrastructure management (DCIM)—that is likely to impact the way data center projects are planned, designed, built, and operated.
| May 22, 2014
No time for a trip to Dubai? Team BlackSheep's drone flyover gives a bird's eye view [video]
Team BlackSheep—devotees of filmmaking with drones—has posted a fun video that takes viewers high over the city for spectacular vistas of a modern architectural showcase.
| May 21, 2014
Check out Pandora's posh NYC offices [slideshow]
The new East Coast office for the Internet radio provider is housed on two interconnected floors of the classic 125 Park Avenue building, and features multiple spaces for music performances, large gatherings, and “all hands” meetings.
| May 20, 2014
Kinetic Architecture: New book explores innovations in active façades
The book, co-authored by Arup's Russell Fortmeyer, illustrates the various ways architects, consultants, and engineers approach energy and comfort by manipulating air, water, and light through the layers of passive and active building envelope systems.
| May 20, 2014
Gensler envisions 'law firm of the future' with pop-up office project
Called "The Legal Office of the Future," the pop-up demonstration project made its debut this week at the annual conference for the Association of Legal Administrators in Toronto.
| May 20, 2014
Using fire-rated glass in exterior applications
Fire-rated glazing and framing assemblies are just as beneficial on building exteriors as they are on the inside. But knowing how to select the correct fire-rated glass for exterior applications can be confusing. SPONSORED CONTENT
| May 20, 2014
World's best new skyscrapers: Renzo Piano's The Shard, China's 'doughnut hotel' voted to Emporis list
Eight other high-rise projects were named Emporis Skyscraper Award winners, including DC Tower 1 by Dominique Perrault Architecture and Tour Carpe Diem by Robert A.M. Stern.
| May 19, 2014
What can architects learn from nature’s 3.8 billion years of experience?
In a new report, HOK and Biomimicry 3.8 partnered to study how lessons from the temperate broadleaf forest biome, which houses many of the world’s largest population centers, can inform the design of the built environment.
