The quality of food is fundamental, but not enough to define an excellent company restaurant where a firm can design conviviality and wellbeing of the workers. During the conference “Corporate Wellness: focus on food and places” at Herman Miller’s showroom in Milan, Roberto de Mari, Banca Mediolanum’s Chief Procurement, has told about the scenographic greenhouse-like company restaurant designed by Andrea Iose (Hab) for Pedevilla and Claudia Campone (ThirtyOnedesign): a place where the relaxing biophilia join the strong brand identity.
Starting from their commercial pay-off “A Bank built all around you”, Banca Mediolanum has designed the company’s headquarters in Basiglio, a few minutes away from Milan. The symbol of the environment is the aluminum tree at the center of the company restaurant, created by Claudia Capone for ThrityOne design, that embraces all the space with its yellow branches with “soundproof leaves”.
After the opening of the new headquarters in 1995 and the experience of the créche “Baby Med” in 2004, a 4.000 sqm workplace divided in eight buildings where 2.500 people work daily, Mediolanum has decided to face the issue of the company restaurant.
“After running a survey in 2015 where employees expressed their disappointment about the canteen, we started to wonder about a new solution”, Roberto de Mari said during the conference “Corporate Wellness: focus on food and places” at the Herman Miller’s showroom during the Milanese Food Week 2018. “We wanted to create a more pleasing workplace for people that work an hour or more away from their home”.
The restaurant, that required a new building to be bought, has been projected along with Pedevilla as a more than a place where to spend the moment of the lunch break, fostering conviviality with its flexibility and supporting the dynamic young company population.
From the sit-standing stool to the couches, the restaurant has been conceived as a proper workplace where informal meeting or gathering can take place.
Technology is another important feature, giving the employees the possibility of booking their spot or of knowing the daily menu with all information about nutritional values, ingredients, and allergens. “You can also order a takeaway, if you want: nowadays about 100 people order daily some food to eat somewhere else, also before going home: the “take-home” is becoming a trend” Eric Gerritsen, Pedevilla’s Marketing & Communication manager, says.
“Eventually, everyone can leave his own opinion and comments, using a digital panel: for us is important to know, for example, if the pasta was too salty and when was it, in order to keep on improving our service”.
Text by Gabriele Masi.
