Located in Milan’s Maciachini Business Center, the new Levi’s headquarters designed by Italo Rota is a three-storey glass and steel building whose open-space plan, absence of barriers and transparent partitions reflect the Client’s work ethic based on transparent interpersonal relations and mutually beneficial exchange.
The interior volumes - many double or triple height - open out onto terraces that in turn overlook gardens and internal green courts; one, with large reflective pools, lies in a completely glazed enclosure. As well as helping to create comfort zone temperatures for occupants, these green areas are also accessible relaxation areas.
The sense of transparency and permeability is strongly conveyed by the double-glazed external façades designed by Italo Rota and produced by Stahlbau Pichler. Steel mullion and transom frames support the glazing over a total surface area of some 2,700 sq m. The losange-shaped lights created by the slanting profiles have glass infills with a variety of silk-screen printed patterns.
The structural frame’s complex 3-D geometries uses different size tubular profiles in specially developed steel. The frame was painted once assembled.
Despite the complicity of its design, the finished façade is sleek and well balanced, giving the idea of overall simplicity.
The headquarters’ central position in the Business Park makes it perfectly accessible from all angles by road, pedestrian and cycle paths. The distinctive façade is very much in line with the underlying Masterplan that has seen world famous architects given full expressive freedom within a shared conceptual framework. The result is a new development with a high degree of diversity and complexity, an essential component for any quality urban project.
