Three towers in San Benigno, MSC Headquarters

Genoa, Italy

Photo © L. Boegly

Drawing © Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia

Office Buildings

Architects: Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia

Location: Genoa, Italy
Year: 2015
Client: SVIM spa, GLF Grandi Lavori Fincosit spa
Structural Engineering: Montaldo Engineering
Environmental and Services Engineering: Manens-Tifs s.p.a.

The founding idea of the new project is to use stained-glass windows to define a gradient over the whole development of the façades of the three towers, which will proceed with lighter tones on the faces less exposed to solar radiation, becoming darker on most sunny façades. This criteria will helps to better respond to the regulatory requirements imposed by the laws on energy saving.
The colors used are 6 in total, together in twos, tone on tone, with the intent of obtaining, on each side of the towers, a “softer” color and less contrasted with the adjacent facade.
The composition uses two different coloured kind of glasses, whose technical characteristics allows the achievement of thermo-acoustic values required in this area, for this type of function.
The use of a single color would have required different technical solutions to achieve the values imposed by law, such as the increase of blind parts instead of transparent. Last but not least, the “horizontal gradient” will bring to the project a different “reading” from every angle, giving to each tower a different shade.