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
| Feb 19, 2014
It's a world record! Largest uninterrupted concrete pour kicks off Wilshire Grand project
Guinness World Records verifies the concrete pour as the largest ever
| Feb 17, 2014
Developer plans to 'crowdfund' extended stay hotel in Manhattan
Want to own a piece of Manhattan hotel real estate? Developer Rodrigo Nino is inviting individual investors to put up $100,000 each for his latest project, 17 John.
| Feb 14, 2014
Crowdsourced Placemaking: How people will help shape architecture
The rise of mobile devices and social media, coupled with the use of advanced survey tools and interactive mapping apps, has created a powerful conduit through which Building Teams can capture real-time data on the public. For the first time, the masses can have a real say in how the built environment around them is formed—that is, if Building Teams are willing to listen.
| Feb 13, 2014
Related Companies, LargaVista partner to develop mixed-use tower in SoHo
The site is located at the gateway to the booming SoHo retail market, where Class A office space is scarce yet highly in demand.
| Feb 12, 2014
First Look: Futuristic Silicon Valley campus designed to draw tech startups
The curved campus will consist of four different buildings, one exclusively for amenities like a coffee bar, bike shop, and bank.
| Feb 7, 2014
Zaha Hadid's 'white crystal' petroleum research center taking shape in the desert [slideshow]
Like a crystalline form still in the state of expansion, the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center will rise from the desert in dramatic fashion, with a network of bright-white, six-sided cells combining to form an angular, shell-like façade.
| Feb 6, 2014
End of the open workplace?
If you’ve been following news about workplace design in the popular media, you might believe that the open workplace has run its course. While there’s no shortage of bad open-plan workplaces, there are two big flaws with the now common claim that openness is bad.
| Feb 5, 2014
Extreme conversion: Atlanta turns high-rise office building into high school
Formerly occupied by IBM, the 11-story Lakeside building is the new home for North Atlanta High School.
| Feb 5, 2014
7 towers that define the 'skinny skyscraper' boom [slideshow]
Recent advancements in structural design, combined with the loosening of density and zoning requirements, has opened the door for the so-called "superslim skyscraper."
| Jan 30, 2014
See how architects at NBBJ are using computational design to calculate the best views on projects [video]
In an ideal world, every office employee would have a beautiful view from his or her desk. While no one can make that happen in real life, computational design can help architects maximize views from every angle.