barreca & la varra: B5 building

‘B5 building’ by barreca & la varra in milan, italy all images courtesy barreca & la varra image © paolo rosseli

italian architecture practice barreca & la varra (gianandrea barreca, giovanni la varra) has shared with us images of ‘B5 building’, a new office building for RCS mediagroup in the north-eastern outskirts of milan, italy. conceived as an integral part of a master plan intended for research and intellectual work in the area, the design builds on a pre-existing complex built in 2007 in materiality by continuing its glass matrix facade in an alternating skin that resembles the abstract composition of a barcode.

view from inner court image © paolo rosseli

completely wrapped in a five-storey glass facade of white, gray and black, the parallelepiped volume seeks to establish a clear identity in both territorial and urban means. together, the vertical elements create a ‘colour texture’ for the exterior, resulting in a dynamic skin that shifts in its transparenty depending on the time of day and available light. windows are placed between the opaque glass elements while shading is provided by panels that hang perpendicularly to the facade, resulting in an added dimension to the surface.

west elevation image © paolo rosseli

surrounded by a collection of large scale structures, the new office building faces a spacious inner court that serves as a free-flowing outdoor space between buildings. bisecting the main floor plan is a tunnel-like void space that further enhances the ground and building’s circulation. accommodating a series of programs from editorial offices to photography studios, the design focuses on promoting maximum flexibility as well as spatial quality to the interior workplace.

north elevation image © paolo rosseli

facade image © paolo rosseli

image © paolo rosseli

shading device image © paolo rosseli

elevated walkway image © paolo rosseli

central tunnel space image © paolo rosseli

image © paolo rosseli

image © paolo rosseli

approach image © paolo rosseli

site map

floor plan / level 0

floor plan / level +1

cross section

north elevation

project info:

client: iniziativa immobiliare due s.r.l. (prelios s.p.a. – morgan stanley – RCS mediagroup) gross floor surface: 9,549 m2 floor area: 2,340 m2

development management: prelios s.p.a. schematic design, design development and artistic supervision: gianandrea barreca, giovanni la varra team: andrea perego (project coordinator), dino polverino (artistic supervision coordinator), alessandro grassi, fabrizio lampis, simona oberti, marina ranieri construction documents and structures: S.C.E. s.n.c. mechanical and electrical systems: teknema consulting s.r.l.