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Chamber of Commerce Headquarters

Mdu architetti

Chamber of Commerce Headquarters
By Francesco Pagliari -
Castelli, Fabbrica Marmi e Graniti have participated in the project

The new Chamber of Commerce headquarters in Prato, near Florence, successfully lives up to the specifications laid down in the 2006 competition - won by local practice MDU Architetti - namely to modernize an existing urban landmark with an innovative yet conservative programme, and to design a new complex whose public function would be immediately apparent.
The existing 1950s industrial-style building occupies an entire plot in a now consolidated urban district just outside the old town still largely surrounded by its 14th century city walls. The dense industrial and residential mix of this inner periphery speaks of Prato’s history as a major textile hub during the last century but now undergoing major change with the closing of several plants.
The drive to restore and renovate rather than demolish and re-build is a welcome sign of cultural maturity. Accordingly, the winning architectural project acknowledges energy-saving strategies as well as the key features of the existing building: its architectural value and importance as an urban landmark on a strategically placed trapeze-shaped corner plot; the essential regularity of volume and façades, emphasized by regular lines of strip windows; and the potential of the inner court, a hugely useful space defined by the volumes bordering the streets, provided it were cleared of the numerous constructions that had gradually cluttered it up. In addition, the industrial structure of the tall two-storey building was recognized as providing large vertical and horizontal spaces in which to define new work, meeting and socialization areas and so turn the spatial features of the former volume into comfortable environments suitable for modern-day requirements.
MDU’s strategy has been to highlight the shape of the existing structure and free up the inner court of all spurious buildings. The surrounding external landscaped areas are now an integral part of the whole project and include parking...

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