BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group

Shaped by the serpentine run of the Brembo river and the sloping Alpine mountainsides, BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group’s winning design for the new 17.500 m2 S.Pellegrino Flagship Factory embraces the surrounding forces of nature and taps into S.Pellegrino’s industrial heritage, guiding visitors through the 30-year journey of the natural mineral water.

S.Pellegrino has selected BIG to develop the new home for one of the most complex and advanced plants in San Pellegrino Terme, where the natural mineral water has been bottled since 1899. The 90-million Euro project is expected to bring economic, tourism, social and employment benefits to local communities and the entire Lombardy Region.

BIG’s proposal for S.Pellegrino’s new home in the heart of Bergamo is an authentic extension of the rational and functional architecture of the existing factory from 1899, and a homage to the classic elements of Italian architecture and urbanism. The arcade, the viale, the piazza and the portico create an architectural environment where production and consumption, nature and architecture, outside and inside, and making and enjoying are accommodated in an integrated way to elevate the experience for visitors as well as S.Pellegrino staff.

BIG’s design is evolved around a well-known architectural element: the archway. The simple and clear character of the expanding and contracting arches throughout the campus, create a multitude of spaces and experiences. Visitors and S.Pellegrino employees will walk through majestic vaults, covered tunnels, arcades and green pergolas that frame the history and heritage of the brand. The architecture’s seriality will reveal parts of the surrounding mountains, from the snowcapped summit to the flowing Brembo river.

At the center of the campus, a giant core sample will visualize the 30-year journey that the mineral water must travel through to acquire the minerals and achieve the purity that is unique to S.Pellegrino. The new S.Pellegrino Flagship Factory  will appear disciplined yet fluid; cavernous yet transparent; unifying yet diverse; classic yet contemporary. Celebrating both tradition and evolution the architecture of the new campus reflects the core values of San Pellegrino Terme as well as the Sanpellegrino Group: Purity, Transparency and Naturality.

BIG, S.Pellegrino and local architects Studio Verticale will collaborate for the next four years, with groundbreaking of the construction to take place in 2018. First priority will be given to the construction of the bridge that will connect the bottling plant to Zogno, which will then connect to the parking structure for heavy vehicles. From 2019-on, focus will be given to the offices, the northern wing of the Factory and the Experience Lab.