celoria Architects

Description

This building meets very high environmental and sustainability standards. It is the first SNBS Gold-certified administration building in the canton of Ticino, it is Minergie P-Eco-certified, and it is made entirely of recycled concrete. The project deviates from the traditional idea of a bank, which is normally conceived as a closed shell. Instead, the building opens up to the outside, presenting itself as a light and airy translucent glazed volume that creates a dual relationship to both the town and the landscape. The square floor plan, with eight slightly inclined columns that taper towards the top, determines how the building relates to the village of Savosa in all directions. The floor plan is also reduced, supporting the vocation of leaning towards the sky. The building acts as an important catalyst and the lynchpin of an urban upgrade of the village that also includes traffic rerouting to create a quieter area to the north. The site on which the building stands is to be extended in future to serve as a new town square. The load-bearing structure is independent of the arrangement of the interior spaces, which enables flexible use and design of the rooms – which was the main intention of the project. The ground floor is an exception, as it interacts with the surrounding context to create a continuous relationship between the interior and exterior spaces. The sparing use of recycled concrete, thanks to an exceptional structural concept, has made it possible to minimise the amount of grey energy derived from it and achieve the highest ecological certifications in Switzerland.