To save both economic and material resources, and to create a sustainable environmental design, MFA Architects and Nicola Martinoli have created a single compact volume in which the cover becomes the unifying element. In the north façade, the building has a more closed character, while in the south façade, the cover is extended three meters outwards, with different inclinations that indicate the access to the different areas of the interior.
Description of the project by MFA Architects and Nicola Martinoli
A municipal technical centre in the heart of Europe.
The rural context and the expanding residential area were joined inspirations for this architecture, which is both imposing and integrated into the landscape, while complying to local architectural patterns.
Because of the site characteristics we opted for a single building, with a number of deriving benefits: first, the volume com¬pression and compactness ensure substantial savings in both economic and construction terms; second, its sustainability allows for a considerable reduction of its management and maintenance costs; finally, it is consistent with the surrounding landscape, and this allows the artifact’s architecture to fulfill a strong symbolic value, that is comparable to the urban scale and becomes a true landmark.
Our reference model was the archetypical Alsatian residential architecture: through its replication in multiple modules we obtained variable volumes, highly effective in a public building.
A strong personality results from the shape of the roofing: all functions are collected underneath it, and identified on the façade by the different floor inclinations.
The large roofing is the unifying element of the whole project: a 3-m protrusion protects the workers’ transit and turns the building into a true architectural sign.
