Milan, Italy
Designed by Michele De Lucchi and his team at AMDL CIRCLE, Z-Life is the new headquarters for the pharmaceutical corporation Zambon.
Z-Life is set inside the OpenZone campus in Bresso, on the outskirts of Milan, Italy.
The entire building is designed to host workplaces with few barriers between them, to favor the exchange of ideas and competencies, and promote constant innovation in a business environment.
The project develops and promotes new ways of living the office space in line with the Studio’s research philosophy, Earth Stations.
Earth Stations are places that are primed and ready for the programming of the future, exploiting humanistic knowledge and technological potential to create environments designed to foster human relationships.
De Lucchi sees architecture as a tool to facilitate the transmission of ideas and knowledge.
In Z-Life, office activities have been integrated into an existing structure of a former factory specialized in metal profiles.
AMDL CIRCLE has merged in one building different elements belonging to different times and functions.
A glass-enclosed volume has been inserted within the previous reinforced concrete structure, with a steel architectural frame.
The new architectural object sits in harmony with the previous industrial structure: the intervention both preserves and celebrates the memory of the previous industrial context.
The glass highlights the concrete parts that reveal the building’s history: the juxtaposition of different materials makes Z-Life unique in its surroundings, and recognizable from afar.
Inside Z-Life, there are no separation walls, and all environments are connected to develop collaboration.
The wide-open space is developed on two levels, visually connected from several voids that let the viewer perceive all the internal activities.
The open environment allows a continuous adaptation of the spaces according to the changing needs of contemporary office space.
The perimetral glass walls allow for natural light to spread, highlighting the empty space and favoring a positive relationship with the outdoors.
The transparency of the outer perimeter is a metaphor of knowledge sharing, in a continuous exchange between the inside and the outside.
The central part of the original volume has been demolished to host a courtyard, all offices developing around it.
At the centre, Open Lamp, a circular hall dedicated to events and internal communications meetings.
The dome that covers the Open Lamp is connected to the office spaces by four gangways.
The glass avant-corps has a load-bearing metal structure and is characterized by the use of larch wood on the ceiling and the claddings.
Z-Life’s roof, visible from the adjacent buildings, has been conceived as a “fifth façade” and features a roof garden whose appearance will change through seasons.
The services have been divided into eight small internal compartments, contained in size.
Z-Life is located on Zambon OpenZone: a campus of 19:500 sq metres. OpenZone is the embodiment of a place for the exchange of knowledge about research and enterprise.
A campus funded entirely by private capital, dedicated to Health, and founded on an approach geared towards open innovation.
Conceived to build bridges between different competencies, languages, and worlds, it is a place where research is transformed into enterprise.
AMDL CIRCLE studio has been involved in the OpenZone development project since 2014.
Oxy.gen (2014) is a structure that seems to float on water and it is inspired by the appearance of an air bubble: inside all interactions are inspired by the rhythm of breathing.
The Library (2014) is a place projected to celebrate and diffuse scientific knowledge, hosting 35.000 volumes.
At present, AMDL CIRCLE is following the construction of two towers that will be lost laboratories and start-ups connected with health innovation research.
Project: Z-Life Zambon Headquarters
Architects: Michele De Lucchi/AMDL CIRCLE
Design Team: Angelo Micheli, Vittorio Romano, Matteo Del Marco, and Michele Vanetti
Main Contractor: Carron SpA
Consultants: Arcadis Structural
Suppliers: iGuzzini (Lighting); Woozen LG (Open Lamp Floor and Roof)
Client: Zambon SpA
Photographers: Luca Rotondo
