In this industrial renovation for Dante Negro, Studio Bressan placed the offices, materials library, and technical-administrative spaces in the main Brutalist-style section, while the production area is located in the double-vaulted volume.
The design maintains the overall configuration of the structure, eliminating all non-structural internal partitions to create a fluid and open space. Large, continuous openings have been added to the facade, emphasizing the relationship between the exterior and interior and improving natural light in the workspaces.
Industrial Redevelopment for Dante Negro. Photograph by Giovanni Nardi.
Project description by Studio Bressan
The industrial redevelopment project concerns an abandoned production building, constructed in the early 1970s and located along a major industrial and commercial route in Villorba, north of Treviso. The project enabled the establishment of the new headquarters of Dante Negro, a company of master blacksmiths specializing in the production of metal design furniture.
The original building consisted of two parts: in the brutalist-style head section, the executive offices, material library and technical-administrative spaces were created; while in the 112 m deep vaulted double volume, the production area was established. The decision was made to maintain the general configuration of the structure, adapting the interior layout to new functionalities. The new production layout strengthened the functional relationship between interior spaces and external yards, optimizing the transformation cycle of raw materials, which arrive from the east gate and emerge as finished products from the west gate.
Interventions in the office area revitalized and enhanced the original composition, ensuring seismic and energy compliance of the structures. All non-structural internal partitions were removed in favor of fluid, open-plan spaces. The facades were redesigned with large, mostly continuous windows, improving natural lighting in the workspaces and emphasizing the relationship between the interiors, external terraces, and the garden in front.
The brutalist image of overlapping and interpenetrating bands was maintained through the restoration of the projecting concrete parapets and enhanced by increasing the chromatic contrast of the deeper parts with darker colors and larger windows. Special filtering curtains were provided to control daytime solar radiation and nighttime visual introspection. Great care was taken in the selection of finishes and colors to make the spaces more rational and welcoming.
The choice to recover an abandoned building was a real challenge taken on by the property. Investing in the redevelopment of a building of this type means giving back valuable architecture to the area, with the prospect of transforming it into a cultural space, replacing a degraded industrial site. Not demolishing and rebuilding, but reviving.
