park associati retrofits industrial complex in milan with full-height, rhythmic glazing
park associati completes ‘Luxottica Digital Factory’ in milan
‘Luxottica Digital Factory’, a world leader in the eyewear industry, finds a new home in Milan, Italy, thanks to Park Associati‘s complete restoration and retrofitting of an industrial complex. Paying the greatest attention to quality, using technologically innovative materials, and seeking cutting-edge architectural solutions, the project becomes an open and flexible container where history, change, and creativity seamlessly converge. While the architects did focus on recreating Luxottica’s modern brand values, they also sought to respect the social fabric of the Milanese neighborhood hosting the new structure.
view of the building from via Tortona | image © Andrea Martiradonna
industrial volumes meet high-tech and green interiors
To house the new ‘Luxottica Digital Factory’, Park Associati (see more here) reinterpreted the existing industrial building—formerly a General Electric base—by uplifting its original volumes and character, with contemporary and high-quality additions, both to the façade and interior.
‘The intervention emphasizes the building’s original shapes and lines by eliminating any later internal additions and adapting the building to contemporary safety and sustainability parameters while preserving the excellent reinforced concrete truss design and enhancing the facade’s vertical shape. Furthermore, the casing is the result of technological and structural research aimed at lending the building the greatest transparency and indoor brightness,‘ explains the team.
Speaking of the casing, the ultra-modern façade overlooking Via Tortona consists of a full-height and glazed structure with vertical bronzed metal pilasters echoing the complex’s industrial heritage. Through these glass slices, passersby can catch a glimpse of the interiors, which were completely reinterpreted to accommodate new functions including a showroom, some commercial spaces on the ground floor, and the Digital Lab—a high-tech innovation center on the first floor.
façade detail | image © Andrea Martiradonna
Designed in collaboration with Storage Milano (see more here), the new Luxottica interiors are bright and comfortable. They also offer ‘green leisure’ and informal meeting areas thanks to the addition of an internal garden on the ground floor and green patios on the first floor. The intervention follows a LEED quality and sustainability protocol and is estimated to be awarded the ‘GOLD’ class.
façade detail | image © Andrea Martiradonna
