The building is located close to Porta Susa Station, on the edge of the historic town center, at the N/E intersection of Corso Inghilterra with Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, and is set at the center of an exceptional concentration of public services and facilities on the metropolitan scale in a zone of strategic importance for the city.

The project for the new Intesa Sanpaolo head office by Renzo Piano Building Workshop is both an environmental and social laboratory and an urban project, with a discreet urbanity that unites it with the city’s inhabitants.

The adjacent garden, Giardino Nicola Grosa, has been renovated and transformed into a playful space for the city, with trees of different heights, lawns and neighborhood functions. Access to the garden from Corso Inghilterra is provided by a public gallery that traverses the entrance hall on the ground floor.

Description of the project by Renzo Piano Building Workshop

The tower, 166 meters high, is divided by infrastructure into 3 levels of parking garages, one of utility rooms and a low garden around which are laid out the company restaurant and kindergarten, while above ground it consists of 26 floors of offices and a floor for training which includes spaces and services open to the public.

Two volumes in particular reveal the tower’s public vocation. The lower is the multi-purpose, flexible conference room. It can be transformed into an exhibition hall, with concerts or performances as required thanks to movable loft and variable acoustics. It can accommodate 364 people. Higher up, the bioclimatic greenhouse, naturally ventilated, welcomes the public on three levels: the restaurant with the garden, the exhibition hall and the roof terrace.

To the east and west the building’s spine consists of elevators and stairs, contributing to the vital and varied effect of the design. To the south the staircase connecting the floors incorporates a vertical winter garden where creepers filter the light behind motorized façades.

The building is the result of advanced research intended to take advantage of the surrounding natural sources of energy (water, air, sunlight) and limit overall consumption. Ground water is used for cooling the offices. Solar energy is captured by the photovoltaic panels covering the tower’s whole south façade.
The ceiling height of the offices is 3.20 meters and they have optimized indirect lighting. Particular attention has been paid to the working conditions of employees in terms of quality of space, lighting and thermal comfort.

The double-skin glass façade makes it possible to limit heat loss in winter and is controlled in relation to the heat input through a system of apertures and solar screens with motorized louvers, which control irradiation and lighting in the work areas.

In summer, the cool night air is channeled inside through the double concrete floor slabs, absorbing its coolness and giving it out in the offices by day with the help of radiant panels.

The whole is controlled by probes linked to a technologically advanced BMS (Building Management System).

CREDITS.-

Architects.- Renzo Piano Building Workshop, architects.
Design team.- P.Vincent (partner in charge), W.Matthews, C.Pilara with J.Carter, T.Nguyên, T.Sahlmann and V.Delfaud, A.Amakasu; O. & A. Doizy (models)
Design team.- P.Vincent and A.H.Temenides (partner and associate in charge), C.Pilara, V.Serafini, with A.Alborghetti, M.Arlunno, J.Carter, C.Devizzi, V.Delfaud, G.Marot, J.Pattinson, D.Phillips, L.Raimondi, D.Rat, M.Sirvin and M.Milanese, A.Olivier, J.Vargas; S.Moreau (environmental aspects) ; O.Aubert, C.Colson, Y.Kyrkos , A.Pacé (models).
Consultants.- Inarco (consulting architect); Expedition Engineering / Studio Ossola / M.Majowiecki (structure); Manens-Tifs (building services); RFR (façade engineering); Eléments Ingénieries / CSTB / RWDI (environmental studies); Golder Associates (hydrogeological consultant); GAE Engineering (fire prevention); Peutz & Associés / Onleco (acoustics); Lerch, Bates & Associates (vertical transportation); SecurComp (security); Cosil (lighting); Labeyrie & Associés (audio/ video equipment); Spooms / Barberis (kitchen equipment); Atelier Corajoud / Studio Giorgetta (landscaping); Tekne (cost consultant); Michele De Lucchi / Pierluigi Copat Architecture (Interior Design); Jacobs Italia (site supervision).
Dates.- 2006 (competition), 2006-2015 (Design Development).
Client.- Intesa Sanpaolo.

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Renzo Piano was born in Genoa, Italy, in 1937 to a family of builders. He graduated from Milan Polytechnic in 1964 and began to work with experimental lightweight structures and basic shelters. In 1971, he founded the Piano & Rogers studio and, together with Richard Rogers, won the competition for the Centre Pompidou in Paris. From the early 1970s to the 1990s, Piano collaborated with engineer Peter Rice, founding Atelier Piano & Rice in 1977. In 1981, he established the Renzo Piano Building Workshop, with offices today in Genoa, Paris and New York. Renzo Piano has been awarded the highest honors in architecture, including; the Pritzker Prize; RIBA Royal Gold Medal; Medaille d’Or, UIA; Erasmus Prize; and most recently, the Gold Medal of the AIA.

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The Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) was established in 1981 by Renzo Piano with offices in Genoa, Italy and Paris, France. The practice has since expanded and now also operates from New York.

RPBW is led by 10 partners, including founder and Pritzker Prize laureate, architect Renzo Piano.

The practice permanently employs about 130 architects together with a further 30 support staff including 3D visualization artists, model makers, archivers, administrative and secretarial staff.

Their staff has a wide experience of working in multi-disciplinary teams on building projects in France, Italy and abroad.

As architects, they are involved in the projects from start to finish. They usually provide full architectural design services and consultancy services during the construction phase. Their design skills extend beyond mere architectural services. Their work also includes interior design services, town planning and urban design services, landscape design services and exhibition design services.

RPBW has successfully undertaken and completed over 140 projects around the world.

Currently, among the main projects in progress are: the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles; the École normale supérieure Paris-Saclay; the Paddington Square in London and; the Toronto Courthouse.

Major projects already completed include: the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris; the Menil Collection in Houston, Texas; the Kanak Cultural Center in Nouméa, New Caledonia; the Kansaï International Airport Terminal Building in Osaka; the Beyeler Foundation Museum in Basel; the reconstruction of the Potsdamer Platz area in Berlin; the Rome Auditorium; the New York Times Building in New York; the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco; the Chicago Art Institute expansion in Chicago, Illinois; The Shard in London; Columbia University’s Manhattanville development project in New York City; the Harvard museums in Cambridge, Massachusetts; the Intesa Sanpaolo office building in Turin, Italy; the Kimbell Art Museum expansion in Texas; the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; the Valletta City Gate in Malta; the Stavros Niarchos Cultural Center in Athens; the Centro Botín in Santander; the New Paris Courthouse and others throughout the world.

Exhibitions of Renzo Piano and RPBW’s works have been held in many cities worldwide, including at the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 2018.
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Published on: April 15, 2015
Cite: "Intesa Sanpaolo Office Building by Renzo Piano Building Workshop" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/intesa-sanpaolo-office-building-renzo-piano-building-workshop> ISSN 1139-6415
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