Zurich Offices in via Fucini

An early 90s office building was completely renovated to accommodate a team of Zurich insurance, owner of the building.
The building, about 3800 square meters, features a double overlook, for it connects two streets with an inner courtyard used as green space and parking area.
In addition to the three floors above ground, with spacious terraces, there are also three very large underground levels that house archives and a car park.

The project mainly involved the rebuilding of the courtyard façade to give a new and more contemporary appearance to the building, and the refurbishment of the terraces – some of which were turned into green spaces. This choice was also made to comply with LEED principles: the whole intervention was designed to obtain the LEED Gold certificate.

The retrofit also included the redefinition of the internal work spaces with new mobile partitions, finishes, systems and intelligent integrated management systems. The energy redevelopment of the complex took place by the installation of new air treatment devices and a BMS system that manages the numerous systems, a new indoor and outdoor lighting system adjusted by motion and twilight sensors and finally a photovoltaic rooftop shelter to recover energy consumption.

Particular attention was also paid to escape routes: it was necessary to add a new emergency staircase, designed as an unicum with the existing building, a complex form that follows the slanting directions dictated by the building and the property boundaries. The staircase is entirely made of metallic carpentry, as well as the new shelter that, with its strong nature, redefines the main pedestrian access, giving the property its identity back.

New elements were introduced on the building while maintaining the historical configuration: new window frames incorporate the existing mechanized shutters and grant a new expressive character to the façade, and the palette of colors and materials was redefined, such as it can be seen in the dark gray metallic perforated plates that make the building more appealing.