Annex Building

Bologna, Italy

Photo © Claudia Rossini

Office Buildings

Architects: MAP studio

Location: Bologna, Italy
Year: 2020
Client: Private
Team: Project Francesco Magnani Traudy Pelzel, Assistants Matteo Sirinati Francesco Bogoni, Consultants Luigi Cocco (structure) Studio Lagrecacolonna (system)

This project began with the demolition of three modest buildings, these were placed within the boundary of an industrial sector.

Having thus freed up the space, we redesigned it through the construction of a large garden, and the construction of a new nine-story office building, with some floors and functions placed below ground level: a two-floor garage, a photographic archive and a connecting tunnel linking the production workshops.

The new office building rises in elevation for a total area of about 2,000 square meters, with a lower entry level relative to the surrounding land. This choice creates as many levels as possible given the existing height constraints, which are regulated by the site’s proximity to the Marconi airport of Bologna.

The decision to make the entry level lower than the surrounding area created the opportunity to redesign the open spaces as well. The design of technical elements linked to the lighting and ventilation of underground areas also contributes to the creation of a new landscape.

The new building is configured as a simple volume suspended in the new landscape, whose facades - defined by a regular grid - give a high degree of abstraction with respect to the dissonances of the surrounding buildings and allude, through the rigor and transparency of the materials, to the precision of industrial production that takes place within the sector.