The building provides servicing workspaces on the ground and first floors, and a cafeteria and conference suite on the top floor – the latter with wood-lined internal louvres. The service specialists have direct access to roof gardens. The courtyard contains a watch-servicing training school for 20 students – the first of its kind in Italy. The logistics and storage segment of the building is in the two-level basement. The building is neatly “split open” at the angle where the two streets meet, creating a light-filled, three-storey entrance atrium. The structural design – with supporting columns passing down between the two-layered glass facades – ensures that the floors on the servicing and conference levels were column-free, making it easy to reconfigure the workspaces if necessary.
New Rolex building, Milan
Program: office building
Architect: Studio Albini Associati
Architect in charge: Francesco Albini
Engineering: Tekne Spa
Facade advisor: AZA e Ramboll
Work direction: Francesco Albini
Contractor: Ediltecno Restauri srl
Area: 5,680 sqm
Completion: 2016