Two rooms in the smaller courtyard of a historic 18th century residence, Palazzo Tornielli di Barengo, were transformed into an extension of a large law firm located in the same building. The magnificence, the stuccos and the late Baroque furniture of the main rooms are contrasted by the intimate and calm atmosphere of the two rooms in sequence, dedicated to more private meetings and gatherings, but also to moments of work in which greater isolation allows a different type of concentration. The function was almost built on the project, as the client, after a quick initial briefing, left the designers with the challenge of shaping the use of space on the design of furnishings and mezzanines that enhanced the existing spaces. Somehow, we dare to say that the function has followed, in this case, the form, even if this process has, in many ways, undergone a opposite.
The project builds, through the design of the oak furnishings, a series of (co)respondence between of the elements (mezzanines, stairs, bookcases, containers) mainly situated along the perimeters, according to a principle of mutual necessity. The first area, dedicated to reception and waiting, is covered by a plastered vault and houses a container staircase that leads to a mezzanine with low shelves and seats for consultation.
The underlying bookcase, with a fast and regular rhythm, is the daughter of the mezzanine structure. A portal-boiserie containing a service and storage room leads to the main room, whose original finishes (sown on the ground with a frame and vault in exposed brick) were maintained in dialogue with the design of the modern taste of the furnishings.
CREDITS
Client: MONTEVERDE Law Firm
Tipology: Office
Place: Novara, Italy
Year: 2016.12
Sqm: 81
Architectural Design: ATOMAA, Studio Asabesi
Design Team: Eleonora Salsa, Umberto Maj, Daniela Serini, Manuela Cruz Torres, Elizaveta Ukhabina, Simone Marusi
Photography: Lorenzo Piovella
General Contractor: Relazioni Edili Snc
Carpenter: Donghi Arredi, Projet Metal
