A ‘private square’, almost an extension of the underlying Piazza del Duomo, a place designed both for casual working days and meetings with partners, clients and employees from all over the world. This is how we have imagined the project for the offices of McKinsey & Company, one among the most important strategy and management consulting companies at international level, occupying four out of five floors in an historical building at the corner between Piazza del Duomo and via Agnello in Milan. A fluid ensemble of functional and representative spaces almost blending one after the other, characterized by natural materials and delicate colours, designed vegetation and custom-made walls and decor, where technology offers all the possible comfort without becoming the main visual protagonist.
accomplished
Offices for a management consulting multinational company in Piazza del Duomo
client
McKinsey & Company
assignment
architectural design and art director
location
Milan, Piazza del Duomo
size
1250 mq
year
2018 – 2019
photos
Andrea Martiradonna
A big lounge area overlooking the Duomo welcomes visitors and guides them towards the bistrot area, the core of this project, the auditorium, the meeting rooms and the team-rooms. Some of these areas have been enhanced by a green-buffer, the real invention of this project: a natural green belt between the working areas and the exterior perimeter wall of the building.
Finally, meeting rooms are among the most “domestic” areas of the project, a place where consultants and clients can easily feel at ease, thanks to a big natural wooden table placed at the heart of this space and to the comfortable armchair seats, covered in velvet blue fabric.Finally, meeting rooms are among the most “domestic” areas of the project, a place where consultants and clients can easily feel at ease, thanks to a big natural wooden table placed at the heart of this space and to the comfortable armchair seats, covered in velvet blue fabric.
The moodboard is characterised by a careful selection of materials and colours: light-coloured wood, pink, white, green, blue. The finishes selection partly summarizes the need of recalling the colours of the brand (blue) but also to create a natural and bright space (light-coloured wood and white, the constant presence of the vegetation) and to recall the urban-historical context of the Duomo: the grey-beige colour toning to a pink nuance typical of the Candoglia marble used for the covering of the Duomo, can be found in the chippings installed in almost every space, whereas the pink “explodes” within the bistrot grabbing the spotlight both on the floor and the ceiling.
A curved glass wall separating the lounge area from the bistrot: a shielding system made of wooden thin sheets is mounted on it, with the aim of ensuring privacy between the two spaces and meanwhile allowing different views along the passage.
Team rooms represent a collaborative workspace for employees and company consultants. The spaces are simple yet warm thanks to the use of wood, cabinets covered in fabric and the constant presence of greenery.
The green buffer in the team room are allows a new relation with the exterior, a relaxing filtering area where placing private calls, take a break from working routine, overlooking the city as if standing on a real balcony.
The auditorium is a flexible space, a soft shape white box suitable to host a varied range of events, an environment where technology and elements are invisibly integrated to grant and improve the acoustic performance.
The Digital Room is a special meeting room conceived for meetings concerning technological activities. The ceiling ‘opens up’ to create a sort of ‘pixel rain effect’ whereas the partition wall is a LCD glass on which you can either write or set up business presentations.
Meeting rooms are spaces where the calibration of the privacy level is pivotal. This is why we have conceived a green buffer to separate them from the corridor: a green belt with a glass wall on the internal side and a composition of home automation rotating thin sheets towards the corridor.
