Rethinking The Future Awards: Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia wins with Vimar
Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia clinches the Rethinking The Future Awards thanks to the project for Vimar’s new logistics and production hub
Rethinking the Future Awards are international awards which acknowledge the excellences and the most innovative ideas in the world of architecture and design. Vimar’s new logistics and production hub is one of the winning projects of the 2023 edition, selected from over 1,000 projects presented from more than 40 different countries, assessed by architects and critics from the four corners of the globe.
The project
Vimar’s new Logistics and Production Hub in Marostica, designed by Atelier(s) Alfonso Femia, is based on the utmost harmony established with the client and an in-depth territorial analysis.
Vimar is a historic company with deep roots in the local territory. It has been producing electrical equipment such as 1-way switches and cover plates available in various designs, systems for the smart home and building automation, video door entry systems, safety & security systems, video surveillance systems and temperature control products since 1945.
With time, Vimar has extended its production and logistics units in the district of Marostica, a historic town distinguished by Piazza degli Scacchi and enclosed within the ancient walls of its two Castles, Castello Superiore (Upper Castle) and Castello Inferiore (Lower Castle). It was therefore essential to consider the urban context and the rationalisation and concentration of these units in a single area in the project.
From the analysis of the characteristics of the local territory and Vimar’s requirements, Femia came up with a project where shapes and materials blend in naturally with the surrounding environment and landscape, bringing together the three souls of the company (offices, production and warehouse) in one space, divided into two adjacent buildings.
The project also focuses significantly on sustainability: light and large patios play the starring role and the lighting is natural, flooding in from the large floor-to-ceiling windows or from overhead skylights; huge mezzanines and genuine hanging gardens carry air and even more light inside the building. On the outside, Vimar’s logistics and production hub stands out for its squared and linear geometric shapes that render it immediately recognisable, especially the biodynamic cement panels, designed by Alfonso Femia in partnership with Styl-Comp, which succeeded in enhancing the value of the project by naturally integrating the structure in its surrounding territory.
This is an important award that illustrates a partnership and a synergy between companies who have managed to put energy, expertise and respect for the local territory into what they do.
Published on