Facing terraced watery mirror, this new office tower finds its origins in the intention to create work premises of a high qualitative standard. The well-being of the users has been the driving element of the principal planning activities, whereas the criterion of sustainability has inspired the design of both the internal and external surfaces using a solar protective shield.The Lodi Tower is a natural involucrewhich comprises ventilation and energy production systems and represents avolumetric aggregation,intrinsically linked to sustainability and capable of capturing the attention of the city dwellers, given its intensive symbolic representation.
The project envisages the re-adaptation of the spaces for a new utilisation as offices. Such re-adaptation is achieved through the repositioning of erected volumes and the construction, at the base of the tower, of a terraced platform for public use, containing watery mirrors, conceived to reflect the entire shape of the tower, and green areas. The project has a direct relationship with its surroundings due to the creation of the new raised deck for public use. This sculptural element constitutes the base of the tower block and contributes to the making of a new landmark representing both zone and townsfolk. From a design point of view the project is represented by a huge transparent involucre, of a mineral shape, containing the spaces dedicated to intellectual functions.
It is sheathed in an external metallic shielding structure, designed in accordance with the protective requirements dictated by the various situations of exposure to the sun. The project is based on a system that allows to integrate the fluidity of the sunscreening lines with the constructive components of their bearing framework. The sustainability of the idea is driven by a combined strategy of energy conservation and attention to the well-being of the users, in an optimum integration between functionality and individuals’ needs.In particular passive solutions have been adopted, such as,high thermal heat insulation, natural ventilation activated by a solar chimney, utilisation of renewable energy, solar protection, diffusion of green areas inside and outside the building.
The new spaces will be made available through the reutilisation of a property previously belonging to the Province of Lodi. From a functional point of view, the project envisages the utilisation of the building for office purposes and such premises will be created by widening the surfaces along the perimeters of the floors as well asthe enhancement of the vertical access to the building with the restructuring of the staircase and the introduction of two new lifts. The access functions to the tower provide mobility to the building by means of two new entrances: the first entrance, for the employees, is located at the ground floor and is directly connected to the parking places and the public transport services; the second entrance, for visitors, is located on the first floor and faces the fountains and the lawn areas which constitute the terraced platform. The architecture of the complex generates a distinguishable system as a result of a fluid and translucent volume, covered by a surrounding solar protective shield calibrated in accordance with the various exposure situations. A natural involucre characterised by its vibrating profiles: “brainwaves” intended to represent the essence of intellectual activity.
