Sustainability and Creativity in 4 facades!

3M Italia S.p.A. Headquarter (2010)

 
Location: 
Pioltello (Mi)
 Architects: Mario Cucinella Architects
 Facade materials: Glass with “brise soleil” system

North, est and west facades were designed with original shading systems, in particular the “brise soleil” system. The south one shows a series of terraces which protect the building from climatic fluctuations. This is made possible thanks to a carefull proportion between opaque and transparent surfaces.
Doubtless this project wants to realize the concept of “sustainable innovation”.
Thanks to this aim this building demonstrates that the technology exploitation of renewable sources of energy can also be a creative opportunity. The external casing ha been designed to ensure the effective control of sunlight, reducing the amount of heat during the summer in order to encourage less use of cooling systems.
A new way of conceiving the building was born: the “building-plant” system. 

Moreover the
 transparency of large areas of glass is not only a technical and formal choise but also shows the will of 3M, as an “open” company, which pay attention to the energy savings and environmental impact.

This is the result…