Nobili S.p.A.

Communicating class, distinction and art:

this was the choice made by Nobili S.p.A. for the architectural design of its corporate headquarters. Square, pure volumes, enhanced by the presence of one of the spheres by great sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro. Laminam large slabs contribute to the grandeur of the overall result, with three iconic collections used: IN-SIDE, Fokos and Calce.

Location Novara, Italy
Year 2023
Architect Maria Grazia Nobili and Paggetti
Applications External Facades, Flooring, Wall cladding
Project Type Office

Italian-Made Excellence

Nobili S.p.A., near Novara outside Milan, is a faucet manufacturer symbolic of Italian manufacturing excellence. The only European company in the sector with an entirely integrated production cycle, every year it dedicates significant resources to perfecting its production processes and adopting some of the most advanced technologies available. The Nobili Technology Centre, its production site in Suno, is the most streamlined and efficient plant in the entire sector, based on a layout able to combine constant growth, extremely high quality standards, and minimized environmental impact.

The Work by Arnaldo Pomodoro

The company headquarters was designed to convey the distinctive features of the corporate identity at first glance: design, innovation, respect for the local area, and the highest level of design and production quality.
An iconic presence which greets visitors is a work by Arnaldo Pomodoro, one of the greatest Italian contemporary sculptors. It is one of his famous bronze spheres, the quintessence of the geometric spirit which dominates the artist’s creations. The lean volumetric nature of the sphere decomposes in front of the viewer, who is attracted by the complexity of the interior, made partially visible by the cracks and cuts which interrupt its polished surface.

The sphere rests on a square tank, as if suspended on the surface of the water, supported by a stone base; the reflections of the metal in the ripples of the water strike the veining running through the base, enhancing them: the material in question is Laminam large slabs from the IN-SIDE collection, in Pietra Piasentina Grigio Flamed color. Thanks to a cutting-edge technological expertise, the IN-SIDE collection breaks with ceramic surface conventions, and achieves textural continuity throughout the surface, body, and edges of the slabs. The Flamed finish is even more evocatively reminiscent of the work performed by artisan stonemasons on their raw material, lending personality, concreteness, and importance to the spaces where they are installed.
The Bianco color from the Calce collection, on the other hand, was chosen to clad the external stairway leading to the electric vehicle car park with charging stations, reinforcing Laminam and Nobili S.p.A.’s agreement with regard to their focus on the environment.

The project I was involved in for the new Nobili S.p.A. headquarters is a vision which comes from refined architecture, based on human comprehension and study, with the goal of changing people’s living conditions for the better.

Arch. Maria Grazia Nobili

Power to Light

Shiny and white, Calce Bianco is used to clad the facade and covered walkway, its natural simplicity inspired by the purity of a freshly plastered wall. A color which amazes with its ability to enhance light, as well as its adaptability, which sets up a dialog here with the linearity of the building’s volumes – the alternation of glazed and sold areas, pillars and voids – and with the Pomodoro piece located at the entrance. It is a high-impact combination to convey to the visitor that taste for superior aesthetics which Nobili S.p.A. and Laminam find themselves naturally sharing.

The Interior

IN-SIDE is also the connecting element between the interior and exterior: the Pietra Piasentina Grigio color used in the statue pool is indeed also used to clad the monumental internal staircase with winder treads and flush-mounted LED lights which stands at the entrance to the premises. It is a strategic and aesthetic choice oriented towards lightness and exaltation of the material, the common thread of the interior design. The double-height areas between floors, lit by light tubes, are inspired by the American minimalist art movement, with interplays of light, symbols and transparencies, rendering the working environment harmonious.

Another two Laminam collections are used in the spaces, creating continuity between indoors and outdoors: Fokos in the Terra color used for the flooring and Calce, once again with the neutral Bianco color chosen, used for the external pillars.
Inspired by the primordial elements of our planet, Fokos features a range of warm, welcoming shades of beige which immediately convey a sense of comfort, warmth and safety.