Project Description
FROM THE ARCHITECTS:
The S.Pellegrino Experience Lab has been lifted from the landscape to increase the factory’s flexibility, and to emphasises the views over the site. At the same time, it strengthens the brand: A Star is Born!
The ceilings and floors are made of a transparent and slightly reflective material, emphasising the purity of architecture as well as the intentions and ambitions of the brand. On the roof a layer of water reflects the landscape and falls to the ground, echoing the core process of the factory at its very essence. As MVRDV co-founder comments for the site’s transformation; “We turn the factory even more into a star. We dream about a factory that enlarges its transparency, its honesty, its relation with the landscape… In the existing and new components of the factory, as a factory will ever adapt…A new transparent star floats over the factory and the valley. Overseeing this operation. it lifts the water and shows it as it falls over its edges onto the factory and the soil. It symbolizes the dream…”
The current façade of the factory is open where possible, but outwards, it creates views towards the surrounding nature, an idyllic setting for those working and aloes a perfect backdrop for the working processes. Inwards, on the other hand, views are created to show the purity and transparency inherent in the S. Pellegrino brand. For the office, the extension has been realised inside and on top of the existing building allowing the factory to be transformed into a crisp and edgy loft space. A double height lobby enhances the feeling of community by concentrating all the main public functions, while a rooftop restaurant sits above the workplace and celebrates this with a beautiful view for all.
The functionality of this is shown in all its purity, giving the visitor a strong belief and admiration and for the worker, a sense of beauty, joy and pride for the town's "miraculous" water.