New Headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce in Prato, by MDU Architetti

Project description by MDU Architects

The existing building destined to house the new headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce of Prato lies in an urban district that grew over the course of the second half of the 20th century to the south of the fourteenth-century city walls of Prato, Italy. This urban fabric still displays the typical character of several portions of the urbanized territory of the Tuscan town, often defined as “city-factory” or the “landscape of diversity” in which, without interruption, small and large complexes of industrial warehouses sit next to many different types of residential buildings. The building is one of the most interesting examples of industrial development of the post Second World War period in the urban landscape of Prato and represents an impressive out-the-scale structure in the urban landscape. The complex occupies an entire urban lot situated between via del Romito, via Baldanzi and via Pelagatti.

The design of the exterior works on two levels: on the one hand it accepts and reinterprets the stereometry and regularity of the existing building, and on the other it opens the volume up to the city. The design proposes a new image, representative of the public role of the Chamber of Commerce of Prato, by cladding the existing building with a “veil” comprised of panelling made of metal mesh with an anodized finish. This new “skin” covers the entire building emphasizing the volumetry and the “out-the-scale” dimensions in the urban context; at the same time, thanks to the transparent effect of the panelling, the characteristics of the existing building are fully visible, and in particular the compact sequence of the windows with metal grid frames.

The industrial history of the city of Prato in the twentieth century is projected into the challenges of the twenty first century through a new image that evokes and reinterprets the actual identity of the Prato textile district: the building is wrapped by a metal “fabric”. The architectural and structural characteristics of the industrial building are kept almost intact: the only exception (besides the entrance slits) is the large opening on via Baldanzi through which the council meeting room turns to the heart of the city, in the direction of the bell tower of the Cathedral, the dome of the Church of Santa Maria delle Carceri and the chimney of the ancient Cimatoria Campolmi, an urban landmark of collective identification for over a century. At the same time the large “window” explicitly indicates the organization’s public function with regard to the city. Alongside this architectural operation of the “overlapping” of materials and memory, the design physically opens the building up to the city: the present-day inner courtyard, thanks to the large slits in the compact body of the building characterized by violent colour treatments and the texture of the Corten panelling, transforms into a new urban centre, a square-garden accessible during office hours. The square-garden is accessible from the existing entrance on via del Romito, included in the overall design thanks to a new “portal” made of oxidized sheet metal, and the new slits in the building opened up on via Pelagatti and via Baldanzi.

The design of the interiors aims to create a comfortable workplace that accentuates the architectural qualities of the existing space, in particular the large opening and the floor height typical of industrial factories. The offices have been designed as individual functional units or grouped in pairs, simple closed volumes each with all the equipment necessary for work activities to be performed. The aim is to ensure the privacy of the working environment and, at the same time, to keep the spatial qualities of the industrial envelope and its typical features intact: horizontal and vertical expanses, reinforced concrete framework, strip windows, vaults with metal chains. The set of offices generates a new interior space that reinterprets the theme of the corridor in working environments: here it is no longer a simple connection corridor, but a real space for relations and taking breaks. These spaces open onto the large areas open to the public on the ground and first floors, where the office volumes dialogue with large opaline glass partitions. The areas open to the public are designed to restore the representative image of the public role of the Chamber of Commerce of Prato: in particular the council meeting room is separated from the waiting area by a transparent glass window and addresses the city through a generous opening in the historical discoveries of the urban landscape. Even the design of the area to be used as the conference room follows the same idea of dialogue between the existing building and the new. The foyer is a single space that extends from city level to the vault of the existing building reaching a height of over 11 metres. The space is delimited by vertical walls in which the large industrial windows and the new walls that characterize the entrance cuts can be identified. A spiral staircase with an exposed reinforced concrete structure becomes the key feature of the foyer.