Salewa Headquarters / Cino Zucchi Architetti and Park Associati

Architect: Cino Zucchi Architetti and Park Associati
Location: Bolzano, Italy
Project Team: Filippo Pagliani, Michele Rossi, Cino Zucchi, with Elisa Taddei (project architect), Alice Cuteri, Lorenzo Merloni, Marco Panzeri, Davide Pojaga, Alessandro Rossi, Giada Torchiana, Fabio Calciati (rendering)
Structural Engineer: Kauer & Kauer Ingenieure, Bolzano Ing. Georg Kauer, Ing. Ulrich Kauer
Electrical Engineer: Energytech Ingegneri S.r.l., Bolzano Ing. Gabriele Frasnelli
Mechanical Engineer: Energytech Ingegneri S.r.l., Bolzano Ing. Georg Felderer
Site Supervision: Plan Team GmbH, Bolzano Ing. Johann Röck, Ing. Rupert Cristofoletti
Climbing Wall Consultant: Ralf Preindl, Bressanone
Artistic Intervention: Margit Klammer
Client: Salewa SpA, Bolzano
Cost/General investment: € 40 Mln.
Project Area: 30,595 sqm
Project Year: 2011
Photographs: Cino Zucchi and Park Associati

The new Salewa Headquarters, one of the most prominent manufacturers in Bolzano, is situated in an exceptional location adjacent to the Bolzano highway suggesting a “landscape” building, in formal dialog with the surrounding steep cliffs. As well as housing new work spaces and an indoor climbing gym, the building aims to provide a space for interaction and communication between the company and its network of suppliers, partners and clients. The new headquarters represents a point of convergence between different elements of everyday life: from physical, social and communicative dimensions to work styles and leisure. The Salewa headquarter is formed by a series of multifaceted slabs and towers, including a 50 metre-high structure which when built will be the tallest building in the city.

The project combines an electro-coloured micro-perforated aluminium skin which protects the most exposed parts of the building with a large vertical glass covering. The resulting visual effect is that of a rock crystal. The interplay between the thin sheet metal-like pillars and the delicate protective layers frame the façades and underline the contrast between the visible and invisible areas. Situated in a particular geographic location, this complex represents a place of information exchange between the dense web of material and immaterial relations that constitute the life of a modern company.

Text provided by Cino Zucchi Architetti.