The new Furla HQ in Florence blends industrial architecture into the Italian landscape
The new Furla Headquarters are located in Tavarnelle Val di Pesa, in the province of Florence, immersed in the Chianti area. The project highlights a paramount theme: the integration of the industrial architecture into the Italian landscape, providing an opportunity to rethink the quality of the workspace.
Architecture and nature are perfectly blended along all directions to create a unique element where the design and the Chianti landscape (defined by hills, heritage, and agricultural areas) communicate harmoniously.
The Furla factory covers 42,000sqm of soil – 18,300sqm built – and has three main volumes (one for offices, two for labs and logistics) designed to be harmoniously integrated into the surrounding landscape, without too much contrast. Architecture and nature coexist in a functional balance.
The morphology of the land is truly taken into consideration and is enhanced through three fundamental elements – the driveway, the terraces, and Piazza Furla – which define clear areas around the building volumes. Thanks to a system of patios and green roofs overlooking the wooded area, nature crosses the boundaries between inside and outside. The main entrance recalls the archetype of Tuscan villa access: a linear row of cypresses welcoming visitors and showing the way through. This rhythm is replicated on the facade of the buildings with sunscreen filtering blades.
The entrance to the offices, with the double-height reception and the large open-air hall, becomes the point where the boundaries between architecture and landscape merge. The interiors have been designed in such a way as to have real layout flexibility. The orderly sequence of offices is punctuated by green patios, or relationship spaces.
Nature is a prominent element, not just because of its beauty (Chianti hills), but also because it creates a pleasant environment once blended into the building: patios, green coverings, and natural light contribute to a more sustainable working habitat, where people can also relax and enjoy contact with nature.
Finally, sustainability plays a key role in this project, which has been designed to comply with green energy best practices.
Photo credit: Fernando Guerra
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Industrial designer Karim Rashid unveils his latest collection for Essential Home
Karim Rashid is an icon in the world of design, known for his futuristic and revolutionary vision, he is one of the most awarded designers of his generation. Based in New York, Rashid has created a unique collection for Essential Home and DelightFULL, based on the needs of our everyday lives. Kasual collection is the best of both worlds: casual and luxurious, all wrapped up into a selection of incredibly designed furniture and lighting pieces that will bring timeless and precious value to any project.
Sculptured in meticulous fashion with incredible attention to detail and an exuberant design, Rashid brings Kasual to life with emotion, creating home furnishings that are functional but still stunning. Creativity is a strong suit in this collection, enticing the eye with new possibilities and forms. Soft and elegant, each piece is designed with a human and sensual feeling, bringing contemporary and mid-century together in a revolutionary way.
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Swiss Bureau completes SARA Group HQ with industrial touches and eclectic approach
Swiss Bureau Interior Design (SBID) delivers SARA Group HQ. The new design nods to a flourishing business philosophy, shifting its focus on contemporary working cultures, sustainability, and employee well-being visualised in a refined yet bold way. Swiss Bureau transformed its office to balance a functional and corporate environment, combined with an industrial touch and warm, collaborative spirit.
The design narrative draws inspiration from SARA’s corporate values in subtle ways. Through thoughtfully placed elements and a careful fit-out process, the new space paints an enduring theme of connectivity within its walls. From one corner to the other, metal features and decorative piping are used throughout, acting as both disguises for cables while also providing an aesthetically cohesive environment. Flexibility and creativity blend with corporate culture transparency to form a series of activity-based workspaces for an inclusive and interactive space.
Standout features include the open-workspace, where carefully implemented acoustic panels articulate a central-focus area and amplify a unique atmosphere. A vibrant town hall and large pantry speak to SARA’s collaborative nature and brings a playful contrast to the industrial mood with pops of colors accentuating a subdued color palette. The multi-functional space sports a bespoke feature wall of individually painted utensils creatively curated for an overall fun environment.
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Park Hyatt Dubai partners with AiroCide, industrial air purifiers developed by NASA
Park Hyatt Dubai has partnered with the NASA developed AiroCide technology- a highly innovative, powerful contamination control device that is clinically proven to eradicate viruses, bacteria, mold, and other harmful airborne particles.
20 air purifiers will now be utilised in every indoor space, including the lobby, lounge, Noépe, Lakeview and Boardwalk restaurants, in addition to 54 units placed in all of the holiday villas. The technology is based on the immediate destruction of airborne contaminates- not collecting or trapping them in a filter.
“We are fully committed to providing our guests with the cleanest and healthiest environment, now more than ever these measures are axiomatic. The use of AiroCide industrial air purifiers in all of our restaurants will ensure we are doing our upmost to eradicate harmful airborne particles,” said Luis Cobo, resident manager of Park Hyatt Dubai.
Studies have proven that tiny aerosol droplets released when people breathe, talk, cough, or sneeze, can carry live infectious viruses that linger in the air for hours. Masks and distancing cannot completely prevent people from being infected by these aerosols. The AiroCide patented technology combines two known pathogen-killing techniques, photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) and ultraviolet light to destroy harmful airborne microbes.
The NASA Story – Birth of a Revolutionary Technology
Sending man into deep space presents a variety of challenges and chief among them is producing a sustainable food supply. And here, NASA had a problem- ethylene gas. It’s a naturally occurring hormone that causes fruit and vegetables to ripen but in a sealed environment like a space station, ethylene buildup is toxic. The challenge – how to eliminate it.
NASA’s solution was hugely innovative and contributed to the creation of AiroCide. A unique bioconversion technology that instantly converted any organic at molecular level, solid or gas- regardless of size into harmless vapor. Not only did this bioconversion technology effectively eliminate ethylene gas along with other volatile organic compounds (VOC’s), subsequently it was also clinically proven to eradicate viruses, bacteria, fungi, and mold- even anthrax.
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10 Design completes Industrial Service Centre in Jinwan Aviation City, China
The Industrial Service Centre provides 54,699sqm of office space for burgeoning start-up companies and entrepreneurs to collaborate, establishing an incubation platform in the new Jinwan Aviation City Zhuhai, China.
Designed by international architecture practice 10 Design, the Industrial Service Centre (ISC) is a socially interactive campus community which sits within a wider 3.8sqkm masterplan. ISC is the first building by 10 Design to complete on Huafa’s Jinwan Aviation City, which will subsequently include the International Business Centre and Jinwan Mall, as well as Zaha Hadid Architects’ Civic Arts Centre at its core.
The ISC is an attractive campus that is unique, pragmatic, commercially viable and well-integrated on the site. Inspired by the concept of a flowing stream, a central green landscaped area provides convenient access to all occupiers and connects all buildings. It also serves as a central pedestrian link, providing a view corridor through the site to the new man-made lake, the primary amenity of the district.
Nick Cordingley, design partner commented: “Creating opportunities for interaction, collaboration and visibility is an important objective of our masterplan. An extensive green area that runs through the centre of the site becomes the social heart of the entire campus. Each integrated building faces directly to it, further increasing visibility to create a sense of community.”
Each of the three buildings has been designed as paired blocks with a central atrium. These central atriums provide shared entrances for the office buildings and contain shared meeting rooms and collaboration space to further increase visibility and interaction.
Flexibility has been positioned at the forefront of the design process. This is accomplished by the creation of adaptable planning modules that allow for multiple tenant configurations, sizes and sectors. The design approach provides adaptability of use for a variety of occupiers, offering workspace for multiple small size companies to larger firms that could acquire either multiple floors or entire single modules.
The Industrial Service Centre is a unique development that offers an innovative campus that will set the Jinwan Aviation City apart, delivering office buildings with a level of quality that is unprecedented in the Jinwan market and provides a backdrop for the incubation of new business in the region.