Offices in an existing buiding, Dalmine, Italy

Program: Office planning and interior design
Size: 2,400 sqm
Status: completed in 2003

The existing building is an example of typical 1930s’ fascist architecture. It was used as the workers’ entrance to the Dalmine steel-tube mill from 1939 until 1999, when it was replaced with a new building entrance.
The project brief was to renew the building to house the offices of Dalmine Energie, a new energy trading company.
The building has a long porch with steel columns that extends the length of the façade, a central entry area, and an upper-floor with a long strip window that also extends the length of the façade.
In this renovation, the porch is enclosed with a full glass façade, maintaining a visual connection between the interior and exterior spaces. At night the porch becomes a gigantic glowing lamp.