Fiandre HQ: well-being restyling by Iosa Ghini Associati

A restyling by Iosa Ghini Associati, focusing on the quality of work-spaces and the well-being of their occupants, through shrewd design and the use of Active Surfaces® eco-active ceramic coverings.

In Castellarano, in the vicinity of Reggio Emilia, the historic administrative headquarters of Fiandre – a high-end brand of ceramic surfaces belonging to the Iris Ceramica Group – has been completely redesigned and renovated. The interior architectural design and creative direction are by Iosa Ghini Associati, which also designed bespoke furniture and complements for the new headquarters.

LIGHT, PERMEABILITY, WELL-BEING, SUSTAINABILITY

Throughout the Fiandre headquarters – occupying three storeys with total floor-space of 2,400 square meters – ceramic surfaces have been applied to floors and walls like a changing, decorative skin, sometimes embellished with finely crafted detailing, to furnish the spaces without ever weighing them down. The overarching aim of the design is to promote people’s well-being, and various solutions have been used to achieve this: from acoustic insulation to the permeability of spaces, with glass walls to let natural light into both the offices and the common areas; from polarised screening systems, to ensure privacy, to combinations of colours and materials, such as porcelain tile, glass, metal and lacquer, based on the principles of colour-therapy, to instil feelings of harmony and visual balance, without compromising on appeal.

For the flooring of the three storeys of the headquarters, for the office desks and meeting tables designed by the architect Iosa Ghini, for the bar area, including the counter and coffee tables, and for the bathrooms with specially designed washbasins, the architects opted for Active Surfaces® eco-active ceramic with antibacterial, antiviral, anti-pollution, anti-odour and self-cleaning properties. As well as featuring carefully developed design, these innovative surfaces meet the needs of safety and well-being, because they provide an ideal solution for places, such as offices, that need to be kept clean and hygienic at all times. The patented Active Surfaces® technology turns each tile into a photo-catalytic material capable of eliminating bacteria, viruses and polluting molecules, by converting them into substances that are harmless to human health and the environment. Active Surfaces® leaves all the other characteristics of porcelain tile unchanged, so it can be used in all the usual contexts, such as floor and wall tiling, but also for furnishings and complements such as coffee tables and countertops, thanks to the properties that make these surfaces suitable for food contact, while also ensuring that they retain their brightness and original appearance over the years. The University of Milan’s Department of Chemistry has calculated that the use of 5,058 square meters of Active Surfaces® inside the building, combined with the use of LED lighting, cuts NOx emissions by 6.0 kg/year, equating to 3,800 square metres of green space, as well removing VOCs and odours from over 10,000 cubic metres of air.

SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION AND MATERIALS

The Fiandre headquarters is spread over three floors, whose interior layout has been totally rearranged. 

The floor coverings on the lower-ground floor are a combination of Active Surfaces® tiling in Pietra Grey Maximum and Seminato Beige from the Il Veneziano collection. Ceramic surfaces from the Pulsar through-body collection in the reception area are juxtaposed with the furnishings in the bar area, which, like the tops of the coffee tables in the reception area, are made with Veneziano Active in beige

The first floor of the building houses the C-suite offices. When you walk into the building, you enter a lobby served by a lift and staircase. This area is embellished with a large wall displaying an artwork by Becha, in the form of an 18m x 3m mural, printed on large-format ceramic panels using Design Your Slabs technology, illustrating the Group’s values, namely sustainability, innovation, beauty and excellence.

Spread over all three floors of the building, the offices are designed to foster productivity and well-being. The desks have tops made of 12mm SapienStone Platinum White Active Surfaces®, ensuring the utmost hygiene and durability.

The bespoke bathroom furnishings are made of Invisible Maximum surfaces in the Active Surfaces® version.

There are comfortable, flexible meeting rooms on each floor, which are furnished with large tables made with SapienStone 4D Ceramic in the Active Surfaces® version for the colour Calacatta. The tables also feature lighting adjustment systems and polarised glass controlled by means of Hypertouch, a capacitive surface designed to activate an integrated system of building automation sensors in response to a brush of the hand, thus enhancing the design and the seamless continuity of the material.