A contemporary office with a historic soul. N4 Building

The N4 Building has been reborn with both its intrinsic and architectural history kept intact. Located between Piazza Affari and Piazza Cordusio in Milan, Via Gaetano Negri occupies an important position in the heart of the city, just a stone’s throw from the Duomo, Teatro alla Scala, and Castello Sforzesco. This is the location of the N4 Building, a historical seven-story building that, for a long time, was undivided and occupied by a single tenant. With InvestiRE and Giuseppe Tortato Architetti joining forces on the project, the property underwent redevelopment, enhancing the existing building, improving sustainability, and reorganizing its spaces for greater functionality, making it very much a part of the redevelopment project that’s currently underway in this part of the city.

The project involved the common areas and the third to seventh floors, responding to the client brief for large, quality office spaces.

“We recognized the enormous potential of the property,” said the architects, “both in terms of its location and intrinsic qualities. It was a gamble, but we were sure that interested tenants would appear in the process.”

The building and its rebirth are discussed in a book published by THE PLAN Editions – Gruppo Maggioli entitled A contemporary office with a historic soul. N4 Building. The book traces the history of the building to the present day through a conversation between Rosario Grimaldi, head of Office, Retail & Alternative Markets with InvestiRE SGR, and Giuseppe Tortato, founder of the studio of the same name. It examines the genesis of the project in a study of the historical and architectural significance of the building and its surroundings. It then looks at the new interpretation of the common spaces, offices, and rooftop terrace that overlooks the city roofs.

 

Contemporary offices

“The project focused on some intrinsic characteristics of the building so as to further enhance it and create office spaces in line with contemporary needs,” reads the book. “The first piece of ‘luck’ we had was that the property has an abundance of natural light. This was a fundamental element that contributed to the comfort levels of the interior spaces. The second was that the width of the windows that aren’t obstructed by columns gave us a great deal of freedom in designing the layout of the offices. The end result has great spatial fluidity, even in the case of closed offices, accentuated by the use of glazed partition walls that allow the eye and light to move freely between the spaces, while also respecting privacy and acoustic wellbeing.”

Materials and colors were chosen to define individual offices and underscore the transition between different areas – including in places where there are no walls. This has produced a pronounced compositional clarity, elegance, and a warmth that could even be called homelike.

A great deal of attention also went into the design of the rooftop terrace, with the careful selection of furnishings, greenery, and weather protection systems to make it usable for most of the year.

 

The firms behind the project

 

InvestiRE SGR is a leading independent asset manager, specializing in the management of real estate portfolios in different market sectors. It’s a key investment partner for the Italian real estate market, with managed assets of over seven billion euros. Established in 2002 as part of the Banca Finnat Group, the company has developed highly complementary experiences and skills across all risk profiles over the years, strengthening its shareholder base with leading corporate investors.

Founded in 2012 by Giuseppe Tortato, the Giuseppe Tortato Architetti studio is a multidisciplinary team that handles architecture and interior design projects for corporate and private clients in Italy and abroad. With a made-to-measure approach to urban and landscape projects, the studio examines the context of every project, beginning with a critical analysis that sees architecture as a vehicle for urban and social regeneration.

 

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