The new headquarters of Bertozzini Costruzioni, designed by Ferdinando Leoni for a site at Torraccia near Pesaro in full view of the A14 motorway, stands in a flat area dotted with residential, commercial and company management office architecture. The whole building is comprised of two cube-shaped three-storey blocks arranged in a V shape and connected by the stairway and lift shaft unit. This joining section is fully glazed and incorporates a three-tier greenhouse overlooked by the various landings. The volumes of the building are picked out by jutting vertical wall-ends that frame the entrance porchway and form a motif by which the two blocks can be distinguished through use of different colours on the façades. The architects sought to maximize sustainability: for this they used low-emission thermal glass and ventilated curtain-walling, as well as installing brackets to hold photovoltaic panels. The south-facing façades are clad in stretched metal grilles on which deciduous climbing foliage will provide summer shade,
For the outer ventilated curtainwalls and the cladding of the vertical abutments, developed with the aid of Kalikos International the choice fell on Parklex Façade panelling in bakelized Rubi wood. The aluminium supporting framework was structurally calculated by the technical office of Allface; it is made of special brackets fitted with eyelets to regulate alignment and verticality (adjustment along three axes, therefore) and with thermostop to prevent any thermal bridge between the bracket, masonry and vertical T- and L-section stanchions. The panels were riveted onto the structure leaving the Rubi-coloured heads visible.
In dimensioning the supporting frame it was not just the façade cladding weight that had to be reckoned with, but the need to withstand wind pressure (pressure and pressure rebound), the site being near the sea.
Choosing Parklex Façade made it possible to combine thermal insulation with façade diversification via use of different materials. The colour and volume effects are heightened by the geometrical pattern formed by the panels as well as by the warm tones of the wood.
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