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Architects: depaolidefranceschibaldan architetti
- Area: 1300 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:Simon Menges
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Manufacturers: Fritz Hansen, UniFor, USM, 70Materia, Schüco, Viabizzuno, VitrA, Vitsœ
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Lead Architects: Arch. Alessandro De Paoli, Ing. Marco Sartori
Text description provided by the architects. BeAdvisor headquarters arises from the encounter between a visionary entrepreneur and the rural landscape of Veneto, described by an abacus of simple figures: the geometric surfaces of cultivated fields; the straight lines of avenues, hedges, and vine rows; the bumps and hollows of embankments, canals, and reservoirs. Here, on a site of approximately 10,000 square meters on the border between a residential neighborhood and the open countryside, is where the owner of a financial consultancy firm decides to move his offices, previously located in the historic city center.
He is led by a new work environment idea, which blends operational, shared, and sports-centered spaces, integrating the indoors and outdoors. Well-being, health, sociability, and ecology are the cornerstones of this approach, which places the person at the center. An exposed concrete volume stands with marked horizontality on a single floor, integrating into the skyline and establishing multiple relationships with the open spaces and with the informal and recreational spaces that arise in the immediate vicinity.
Slight variations that identify embankments and depressions modify the natural convexity of the site. While the central grassy area responds to a hydraulic function and streamlines the facade, embankments act as acoustic and visual shields against vehicular traffic around the site. The natural orographic conformation itself is used as material for the project and is modified to configure new technical solutions, define unforeseen perspective views, and identify spatial hierarchies.
Architecture figuratively takes up the plot of the landscape and with its essential language, it appears as an object suspended on the grassy expanse, in balance with the garden. The tension between the rippling of the orographic components and the rigidity of the concrete volume is concentrated in the shadow that the architectural object produces by interfacing with the countryside.
The planimetric composition arises from parallel yet staggered exposed concrete partitions, reinterpreting the texture of the cultivated fields. Their modularity recalls the pitch of the vine rows that previously occupied the project site. This articulation of the space into parallel strips is also clearly legible in the facades, through the difference in height concerning the central distribution route.
The workspaces develop along this axis, at the head of which is the entrance, enhanced by an out-of-scale steel portal and a suspended concrete wall. A second axis, orthogonal to the first, separates the public front of the building from the operational area: the reception and meeting rooms are located in the first part, offices, and open space in the second. The filter band, marked in the layout by the extroversion of the technical volume towards the north, houses the restrooms and utility rooms, a relaxation area with a kitchen, and a patio.
The floors are treated with a smoothed cement conglomerate with exposed aggregates. The long perspective of the distribution path is enhanced by a bush-hammered walkway which at one end refers to the light that is cut off by the roof. The concrete was also reintroduced in the entrance counter and the external flooring, dialogues with the wooden slatted ceiling, the anthracite grey lacquered boiserie, and steel windows. The technological choices, from the photovoltaic system to the recovery of rainwater for irrigation, are oriented toward sustainable use of resources.
The interior spaces establish a very close relationship with the natural environment. The concrete partitions, oriented east-west, alternate with large windows, which multiply the views of the garden and welcome natural light, modulating it according to the needs of the interior spaces. The overhang of the roof and the external curtains protect against direct light on the southern front.
The central patio, located between the public area and the operational space, represents the visual fulcrum of the workplaces, bringing natural light and vegetation back into the very heart of the building. Two other courtyards are located at the northern front, creating open space between the building and the parking lots. These are mineral spaces in which the band of Phormium and a series of birch trees stand out. The offices that open onto the courtyards with large windows benefit from a diffused light from the north, while the relaxation room with its double aspect view extends outwards and becomes an ideal continuation.
The workplaces, hence conceived with a high degree of flexibility, ecology, and technological innovation, mix with informal open spaces, green areas, padel courts, bike sharing, and racing services. This contamination fosters creativity and synergy while direct contact with the natural environment increases well-being, conceived as visual, acoustic, luminous, and thermo-hygrometric comfort. Natural and anthropic elements combine harmoniously, generating a campus for work and personal services according to an organic intention of beauty.
