The new operations headquarters of Reale Group, designed by Iotti + Pavarani Architetti, was recently opened in Turin, Italy. Located on the southwestern border of the city’s Roman castrum it replaced a building from the seventies, redefining and modernizing the entire block. 

Covering a built area of 23,500 square meters, the LEED Platinum certified building will accommodate 800 work stations, 150 parking spaces, a conference room for 280 people and will include a visible from the street 1,700 square meter internal courtyard.

"The entire complex takes on board the surrounding area and “absorbs” a protected historical façade (that on Via Bertola and Via San Dalmazzo), creating a compositional solution in harmony with the surrounding buildings."

"The architectural envelope becomes a fulcrum, a gravitational hub in the urban fabric of this part of the surrounding centre of Turin: it focuses the attention on itself and, through a simple and rigorous arrangement of the four façades, defines a contemporary intervention which is at the same time intimately linked to the place, simultaneously generating the conditions for high energy efficiency and excellent exploitation of the light."

A clad counter façade system with shaped profiles of anodized aluminum in different colors screens the doors, windows and glass partitions creating the effect of a vibrant “artificial forest” sensitive to changes in the natural light. 

“Through a rigorous and sensitive arrangement of the façades, taking simple forms as a starting point for development and set to endure over time, the architectural envelope establishes intense dialogue with the city, seeking integration through materials, colors, proportions and alignment, generating a gravity point in the urban environment,” claim the architects Paolo Iotti and Marco Pavarani. “The key concepts behind the design are the link with tradition and looking to the future. The roots lie in the past, even physically: carving out an entire block in the perimeter of the Roman walls was like taking a journey back in time. The gaze to the future can be seen in the architectural choices and is supported by excellent research in terms of the performances and technological innovation,” said engineer Roberto Tosetti.