Headquarters of SILEA S.p.A. – Ecopark

date: 1996 – 2001
client: S.I.L.E.A. S.p.A.
Intercity Company from Lecco for Ecology and Environment
object: New headquarters of Silea S.p.A.
Valmadrera, (Lc). Ecopark
size data:
Surface of the area 17,395 sq. m.
Surface of the new headquarters 1,770 sq. m.
Volumetry 6,190 sq. m.
project stage: General coordination; preliminary, definitive, executive project and works direction. Furniture project. Coordinated image

The project of a new office building for SILEA and the surrounding green areas is a project of strong infra-structural and energy integration with the existing system, as well as a panoramic and social dialogue with the context and area.
The project recovers a part of the energies produced by the thermal-valoriser and reinterprets them for two main goals: the conditioning of the offices and the creation of an ecoparco with tropical plants. The park is an expression of the willingness to relate to the context and with local residents, offering itself as a collective service structure, as a strong and decisive presence in the area.
The design and realisation of the new offices and the change of the area to a suitable green adhered to the aims and objectives that we can summarize into three guiding principles.
Macro-scale and territorial incorporation. One of the main objectives of the SILEA project consists in the sewing of the area of involvement with the territorial context in Valmadrera and with the specification of the edges of the adjacent zone. The design will was not to limit the area of involvement to just to the internal scale of the project lot, but to try to recovery its use value and that one perceived in the scenic and territorial area.
The office building wants to communicate its roots with its context, looking for a direct and evident relationship with the integrated park design, located between the offices and the incinerator area. The park does not separate, but connects the incinerator to the offices, shunning the didactic element on the idea of recycling and reusing residual energies left over from the ovens.
The new SILEA area must therefore be a territorial sign, embracing the scale of the local landscape, actively incorporating itself with its infrastructures in the surrounding area, regenerating a new over all identity that is strong and articulate. Low energies and cycle processes. We understood the disposal system as a place for the exchange and transformation of energies: it seems inevitable that nothing goes to waste and that the maximum use of what is generated is opted for, just like what usually happens in nature.
Because of this we decided to reuse the steam from the cooling of the incinerator pots to produce thermal and frigorific energy for the conditioning of the offices and for the recovery of meteoric waters to use for the bathrooms with resulting energy and natural resource savings. Later the recovery of waters will allow for the creation of an ecoparco, creating therefore through the presence of the incinerator an articulated habitat, a unique cycle of excellence and self-sufficiency.
Sustainability and clean materials. Regarding questions of environmental and energy coherence, the materials used were certified and of eco-standard, in addition to being recyclable, thus avoiding any material or finish that was toxic to man or the environment. In addition glass and other high yield energies were used such as non-chemically treated wood, linoleum, zinc-plated sheets, materials, thus, able to converse with the natural dimension that we wanted to create around and inside the building.