Description
The partnership between Area-17 Architecture & Interiors and Iris Ceramica Group continues with a renovation work that combines distinctive features of contemporary design with a great respect for what the brand means for its surroundings and the people living there. The refurbishment of the historic Iris Ceramica headquarters arises from two main needs: integrating the original building from the ’60s with the brand-new showroom’s volumes, and remodeling the interiors, which underwent a change in functions over the past decades. It also states the choice to consolidate a weighty brand identity and return it to employees and clients with a new, stronger visual image.
A careful design approach made it possible to preserve the original and distinctive elements on the façade, updating the layout through the addition of contemporary details. A landscape work crucially harmonizes the overall perspective. The vertical movement of green areas softens the transition from a building to another. A sculptural, semitransparent ceramic fence surrounds everything, expressing the full emotional potential of the material.
With an architectural vocabulary that quotes the ‘60s lightly, inside the research of a balance between innovation and tradition focuses on the evolution of functions and on the interplay among new environments. The entrance opens onto a hall which rises from the floor to the very top of the building, featuring a monumental ledwall screening the brand’s visual communication. On each side of the hall there are museum rooms, where Iris Ceramica’s history is told through a powerful storytelling display about products, people, values, and projects.
The full-height volume ideally connects the museum to the office area, the past history to the one that has being written, acting both as an architectural joint and cross narrative synthesis. This environment where wait, reception, and brand communication are dynamically blended together creates the premise for a new approach to business relationships and for effectively conveying the company’s vision to visitors.
