The design of this research and development center aspires to reflect the company’s position of leadership, technological advancement, and commitment to innovation in the use of concrete. The project celebrates the 150-year-old company’s birthplace in Bergamo, incorporating substantial public space and landscaping that activate the site. The defining quality of the building’s interior is daylight, with the roof of the structure forming a virtual fifth façade perforated with a system of skylights animating the interiors with changing natural light.
The building’s V-shaped massing reinforces the boundaries of the triangular site and incorporates a program of technical and administrative spaces into two wings that surround a central courtyard. The “public” and “private” halves of the building hinge on a double-height entrance foyer, within which a long and elegant ramp allows circulation between floors. The interior organization of the laboratory wing responds to the highly specific functional requirements of the program, while a simple structural grid and a central circulation corridor allow efficient and flexible layouts for various sectors.
An innovative high-strength, pollution-reducing reinforced concrete mixture was developed by Italcementi specifically for the building. This proprietary self-cleaning concrete is used for the exterior skin facing the highway, the north screen, the curtain wall mullion system, and the precast wall and roof elements throughout the building, embodying the company’s commitment to innovation and sustainability in material form.
