Porsche Experience Center

This is no simple track where to try out the world of Porsche at your own speed: this is a microcosm of the entire Porsche universe. Italy’s first Porsche Experience Center (PEC) has come to life in the Franciacorta racetrack zone, where a 60-hectare complex has been turned into a journey through restored old tracks, loops and circuits for karting, drifting and off-road racing. The masterplan for this whole project was designed by GBPA Architects, with Dromo working on the circuit. The heart of the project is the Customer Center, a space designed specifically as a meeting point for people and cars. It is an immense hangar spreading across 4,500 m2 over multiple levels in a succession of volumes used for simulation laboratories, conference centers, a covered plaza and other hospitality services, including restaurants and coffee bars. The outstanding feature of this space lies in its merging of history and appearance. The original structure was both preserved and redeveloped, creating an iconic landmark even at a glance with large segmental arches made of laminated wood and expansive skylights at the top that rise 16 m and have an overall span of 55 m.

The innovative aesthetics required close cooperation between the builder of the façades and the roof, Tecnomont Service, and the manufacturer of the panels for these, Manni Group. The synergy generated by these two firms was fundamental in minimizing the environmental impact of this revamp and, indeed, the entire PEC. The first step was to remove the first three arches to produce a filter zone between the outside and the inside. Then, the new paneled roofing (supported by a substructure) was added and embellished by adding sunshade modules to create a ripple movement effect. The roof itself is a customized solution and even has special channeling to handle the water runoff. For it, Tecnomont Service opted to use the Isofrozen sandwich panels from Isopan, a division of the Manni Group, with double metal cladding and polyurethane insulation foam.

These panels also have Leaf technology, which helps improve the thermal performance of the insulation material by lowering the thermal conductivity of the polyurethane foam. This solution reduces the thermal transmittance of a panel by up to 20% compared to an equally thick standard panel. In this project, the thickness had to be limited precisely as it was necessary to provide space for the storage tanks for the runoff water. For the Customer Center, 120 mm-thick Isofrozen panels with an interior finish in RAL 9010 were selected as this optical white wonderfully recalls the style and purity that is an inimitable part of the Porsche brand.