Green Life
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Green Life

Smart Working, Smart Living

Frigerio Design Group

Green Life
By Editorial Staff -
Zumtobel Group has participated in the project

Green Life is the new Italian headquarters of Banca Crédit Agricole. Designed by Frigerio Design Group, the complex is in the Cavagnari district of Parma, on the site of an older bank building designed by Vico Magistretti in the 1980s. The complex is spread across two office blocks, each with four floors above ground, and a third building that connects these two, with one floor and a basement level. The latter structure houses the reception, a bar and the company canteen, which can be transformed into a meeting space. This central section has a green roof that creates a direct connection to the surrounding Arboretum Park, an expansive of grass and trees designed by AG&P Greenscape that links into existing greenery to create a wonderful nature park that is also open to the public. The entire Green Life project focused, as the name suggests, on minimizing the environmental footprint and maximizing energy savings. Achieving this goal relied partly on passive strategies, including compact, strategically oriented structures, careful use of glazing and sunscreens, and the correct use of building materials and techniques. At the same time, energy consumption was limited through the use of renewable sources, such as geothermal, a photovoltaic installation on the roof, night cooling and a constructed wetland system to recover greywater. The organization of space inside the offices was built around smart working and smart living principles, using flexible, multifunctional spaces and technologies that facilitate dynamic working, which effectively means breaking away from individual workstations and providing for the different working needs of individuals throughout a day. This worker-centered paradigm clearly had to extend to the installations as well, with these designed not only to meet the above-stated energy saving requirements, but also to ensure internal user comfort. The integrated building systems design was the work of Politecnica Ingegneria e Architettura, and it is central to cutting energy needs, maximizing user comfort regardless of the season and optimizing cost/benefit ratios. This strategy meant the building earned the international LEED Platinum certification, which is prestigious recognition and required decisive input for the lighting design by Zumtobel Group. Since the illumination project had to cater for the specific lighting requirements of the design, while complying with the relevant regulations and standards to achieve the certification, Zumtobel opted for Panos downlights. The Panos lights were installed in the traditional offices, the open-space working areas, the corridors and the break-out spaces, providing diffuse lighting that integrates the natural light as the evening rolls in. The smart controls and light sensors make these lights self-regulating, but they are still very compact and blend seamlessly into most false ceilings, reducing any visual impact. Since these lights meet the required UGR (Unified Glare Rating) under the EN12464 standard for light planning in work spaces, they could be used in all parts of the complex without accessories and regardless of the planned space usage. This is another way in which flexibility of usage was achieved, without compromising on light quality or energy efficiency.

 

ZUMTOBEL GROUP

Via Isarco, 1 - I - 39040 Varna (BZ)

Tel. +39 0472 273 300

E-mail: [email protected] - www.zumtobel.it

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Schweizer Strasse, 30 - A - 6851 Dornbirn

Tel. +43 5572 390-0

E-mail: [email protected] - www.zumtobel.com

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