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Officelayout 169

aprile-giugno 2017

collaboration rooms – to use without fixed

assignments, mostly by reservation, and

open areas – touchdown zones,

presentation pads, brainstorming areas,

floor hubs – used on a first come first

served basis. There are also more traditional

support areas, revised in keeping with the

smart working logic. The new offices are

therefore a technologically advanced

system with high levels of mobility,

permeability and interrelation; a ‘client-

oriented’ organism to support the capillary

spread of the brand.”

From layout to interior design

The ground level – the interface with the

urban surroundings – is a single entirely

connected zone set aside for the

client

areas

, building support and shared

services: from the large two-story “filter” of

the reception area – which with the internal

plaza, the cafe and the courtyard behind it

forms the axis of entry, crossing and layout

of the system – one proceeds to the

recruiting area, the press office, the IT area

with the in-house maintenance service, the

postal room with its own corridor, the facility

management office, medical clinic, and

various meeting rooms that can be

reserved, as throughout the building, at

information kiosks with touchscreens

located at the vertical and horizontal

circulation nodes.

From the first to the fifth floor the spaces

are entirely set aside for operative zones,

with workstations in open-plan areas and

closed spaces of similar proportions, not

assigned and not utilized based on rank. A

recursive mixture of configurations runs

through the areas, allowing for all different

work modes at the same time: formal and

informal, individual and teamwork. The

workstations vary depending on function and

the type of activity envisioned: pre-wired

desks; desk clusters, connected at 120°, not

wired but with electrical current in wi-fi zones;

height-adjustable desks; brainstorming areas

at the corners of each level.

The open work zones interact with a

variegated system of

closed, convertible

and differentiated spaces

. These are

conventional meeting rooms, collaboration

rooms with monitors on jointed arms to

facilitate sharing of content, team rooms

with tables for four or focus rooms with

armchairs and settees, just-in-time zones,

virtual rooms for video conferencing, project

rooms, conference rooms with informal

furnishings. Each space is identified with a

numerical code and graphics on film,

customized to vary the privacy level.

On each floor, strategically located in the

middle corridors of the building, there are

informal

Hub

spaces directly connected to

meeting rooms and archives, supplied with

kitchens or break areas with vending

machines, and special furnishing elements.

The building terminates in a tower that sets

aside the sixth to ninth levels for areas with

meeting rooms for easy reconfiguration,

thanks to folding partitions, more informal

lounges and kitchens for catering with direct

access. Some are designed for use with

clients, others are for in-house use only.

Here we can see the effects of EY’s pursuit

of innovation, through ongoing interaction

with the outside world, a logic required by

the clients themselves and supported in

design terms also through the recouping of

the tenth floor as a terrace.

The

interior design

creates clear,

transparent spaces that are sufficiently

“neutral” to form an ideal backdrop for

individual perceptive episodes: the yellow

bands of the floor that indicate internal

perimeters, the films showing the privacy

level on the glass, the sound-absorbing

panels that screen the workstations, the

special furnishing elements, the color fields

and graphic or verbal images strategically

scattered in the space. The solutions in the

special areas are the result of particular

care: from the laminated wood surface that

wraps the reception and brings out the

volumes in white backpainted glass and

pale resin, to the acoustic solutions of the

auditorium and the training area, marked by

great functional flexibility thanks to the

folding partitions, all the way to the hubs

with custom gazebos, like spaces inside

spaces that convey a sense of domestic

atmosphere, immersed in technology.

The branding of the spaces is organized on

a dual trail, outside and inside, crossing the

building like a single fil rouge. Outside, in

the courtyard, the protagonist is Milanese

culture. The design goal was to

contextualize the building in the urban fabric

and to urge people to discover the city’s

artistic sites.

Inside, besides the indication of values

through strategic phrases and “better

questions” shown at strategic points of

transit or use, the theme of international

culture can be seen in the hubs, where

details of iconic and non-figurative art works

by leading figures of the 20th century

enhance the space.

“One year after the move into the new

offices the feedback has been extremely

positive – says Stefano Riva. – People have

adapted quickly to the new spaces, a sign

that the constant actions to inform them

about what we were doing and the

activation of change management policies

have led to good results. What took us by

surprise a bit was the need to manage a

technologically advanced machine that

requires new forms of expertise, which we

had to acquire along the way. Facility

management processes have demanded

revision of space utilization policies. For

example, we have introduced floor

coordinators as a reference point for

orientation inside the spaces and as points

of contact for problems related to IT

technologies and systems. These figures

can also check to make sure the reserved

spaces are effectively occupied, eliminating

possible inefficiency.”