Human and environmental sustainability: the greenhouse-like COIMA HQ, at the edge of a park, is the fifth building in the innovative Porta Nuova District in Milan, one of the most significant contemporary example of urban renovation. A tailor-made workplace, created through an inclusive interior design process to generate wellbeing in a dynamic environment.
“When we talk about satisfaction and wellbeing, we bring the subject to sustainability because sustainability also means the removal, eliminating the superfluous, focusing attention on priorities and on the interaction of relations amongst individuals”. With these words, Alida Catella, COIMA Image’s CEO, has introduced her definition of “Inclusive Interior Design” made up for the headquarters in Milan.
The building designed by Studio Mario Cucinella Architects, with 2,400 sqm over 5 floors, and by COIMA Image for the interiors, has been conceived as a transparent greenhouse on the edge of the park “Biblioteca degli Alberi” by HW Style. The edifice is enclosed on two sheets of bark that define the building’s spatial and material perception, an image achieved thanks to the laminated wooden beam systems, which enclose and protect the glass and steel building.
“By exploring the subject of transparency, for the Headquarters of COIMA we wanted to focus on simplicity, on a sense of rhythm and order”, says the architect Mario Cucinella. “ We want to reaffirm a more human urban environment compared to the macro development upwards of the surrounding buildings”.
The offices, which host COIMA SGR, COIMA RES, COIMA Srl and COIMA Image, have been conceived and designed around the people, involving the entire staff since the beginning. Starting with the analysis of the the expectations of individuals, the effective presence of people on site, the demands of the various business areas, the project have had the goal of creating a “tailor-made” office, resulting in a dynamic space for the smart working: a plurality of work settings in support of different activities, supporting both concentration and collaborative activities.
The symbol of the office is the last floor where the COIMA Café encourages the exchange of know-how and socialization, through the terrace overlooking the adjacent park, named “Biblioteca degli alberi” (by HW style)
The LEED PLATINUM certification and the use of materials and product certified Cradle-to-Cradle (based on recycling and circular economy) for flooring, carpeting, counters, stools, and the seats designed by Herman Miller, make COIMA headquarters a model of sustainability.
The company has also adopted a “plasticless” and “paperless” policy, fostered by a sorted recycling and a filtered and purified water distribution point.
Text by Gabriele Masi.
Pictures by Paolo Riolzi.
