Gri e Zucchi Architettura srl

Faber Headquarters

Faber Headquarters

Geza Gri e Zucchi Architetti Associati

Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari

CLIENT
Faber Industrie Spa

ELECTRICAL ENGINEER
Studio Venica, Udine

ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS
Tecnoimpianti/nonino

MECHANICAL ENGINEER
Bulfon Associati

CONTRACTOR
Edildri Costruzioni

MECHANICAL SYSTEMS
Elettrica Ducale

SITE SUPERVISOR
Geza Gri E Zucchi Architetti Associati, Stefano Gri, Piero Zucchi

MEP CONSULTANT
Ht Engineering, Udine

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Nuttassociati

PROJECT
Stefano Gri, Piero Zucchi, Geza Gri E Zucchi Architetti Associati

FACADE ENGINEER
Angelo Peruzza

MILLWORKS
Arredi Ermacora

OFFICE FURNITURE
Multitema

DESIGN TEAM
Stefania Anzil, Chiara Marchetti, Tania Teixeira, Francesco Casella, Tina Carletti

AREA
4350 M²

YEAR
2013

LOCATION
Zona Industriale-artigianale, Italy

CATEGORY
Industrial Architecture, Institutional Buildings

Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari

FABER INDUSTRIE SPA ARE WORLD LEADING MANUFACTURERS OF STEEL CYLINDERS.

Their new headquarters are located at a boundary between an industrial area and farmland, and hence belong to both, the industrial and the natural landscape. 

The aim of the project is to interface both landscapes and acknowledge their different qualities and values.

Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari
Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari

TWO VOLUMES

The volume of the building is designed to “bring the two landscapes inside”, and integrate them in the new spaces. The building consists of two shifted longitudinal volumes linked by an entrance hall.

TWO OPEN COURTYARDS

As a result, two “internal” open spaces are created, and controlled by views over the building and over the two landscapes. The designers here worked to obtain a reduced scale, i.e. the human scale, as opposed to the large-scale industrial area.

Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari
Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari

While one courtyard is “hard”, lined with trees and conceived as a living area, the other courtyard is “soft”, entirely green and free, with an open visual depth eastwards, facing the manufacturing facilities and the mountains towards the Slovenian border.

THE SECTION AND HEAD FRONTS

The notion of “double” is mirrored in the section, that is two “S” shapes. The corridor/office plan is inverted on the two levels: one totally blind side and one totally open side are overlapped, giving way to radically shifting open/closed fronts.

Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari
Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari

TWO MATERIALS

The notion of “double” permeates the whole design process, including the façade design. The building is covered in a ventilated “skin” made of two materials, i.e. black concrete and black glass.

The prefabricated concrete walls and the glazed front cells alike are horizontal, 4 meters wide and 70 centimeters high. All elements are connected with the same method, i.e. 20 millimeters wide open joints.

Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari
Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari

This gap element governs all installations of the front parts, groundline and skyline, horizontal and vertical separations, change in materials, and corner solutions.

The black skin of Faber building is a product of the designers’ research on abstraction. Although the building is about 100 meters long, it looks “small” as compared to other huge industrial plants.

Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari
Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari

Thanks to the subtle nuances created by four different types of glass and five different types of concrete, the building maintains the rigorous shape and layout of an industrial facility.

Then, it will not stand out from the context because of its shape, but only because of the lightness generated by one color getting degraded as it relates with the surrounding grass, tarmac, manufacturing plants, the sky and the people.

Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari
Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari

Black concrete is also the main feature of the most important area inside the building: the entrance hall has a large black-on-black terrazzo floor, a “liquid” element helping mirror and connect the two green courtyards together.

FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATIONS

The new headquarters cover an area of about 2,800 square meters above the ground, and of about 1,400 square meters underground.

Faber Headquarters
© Massimo Crivellari
Faber Headquarters
Ground floor

They consist of two longitudinal volumes, oriented east to west, with an overall width of 7.80 meters, and different heights and lengths.

The two blocks merge through a central volume serving as hall/reception, waiting area and functional connection of all areas. All open spaces are lined with hedgerows of black poplars, which serve as standing “landmarks” to match the front wall panels.

Faber Headquarters
Eastern and Western elevation
Faber Headquarters
Section C-C

The hedgerow contour alternatively moves towards the inner or outer boundary of the area to hide the car park or highlight the perspective views.


Faber Headquarters
Detailed section
Faber Headquarters
General plan

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