Nobili SpA

Communicate class, distinction and art

These were the goals of the architectural project for the Nobili S.p.A. corporate headquarters. Square, pure volumes, enhanced externally by one of the spheres of the great sculptor Arnaldo Pomodoro. Laminam large slabs contribute to the overall grandeur, with three iconic collections used: IN-SIDE, Fokos and Calce.

Location Novara
Year 2019
Architect Nobili Maria Grazia e Ing. Pagetti
Applications Cladding & Flooring, External Facades, Flooring
Project Type Corporate Headquarters

Italian excellence

Located in the province of Novara, Nobili S.p.A. is an Italian leader in the field of taps and bathroom fittings. 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 Suno-based production site, is the most streamlined and efficient plant in the entire sector, its layout able to guarantee constant growth and extremely high quality standards with a very low environmental impact.

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.
The iconic work by Arnaldo Pomodoro – one of the great Italian contemporary sculptors – which greets visitors is one of his famous bronze spheres, quintessence of the geometric spirit which dominates the artist’s creations. The simple volume of the sphere is deconstructed 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 are mirrored and emphasised by the veins that run along the base in Laminam large slabs from the IN-SIDE collection, in the Pietra Piasentina Grigio Flamed colour. Thanks to cutting-edge technological expertise, the IN-SIDE collection breaks with ceramic surface convention and achieve continuity of material throughout slabs’ surface, body and edges. The Flamed finish is even more evocative of the work of artisan stonemasons on the raw material, adding personality, solidity and prestige to the spaces where they are installed.
Meanwhile, the Bianco colour from the Calce collection 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 shared commitment to environmental issues.

The project I was involved in for the new Nobili S.p.A. headquarters envisages a refined architecture, based on the study and understanding of humans, which aims to change people’s lives for the better.

Arch. Nobili Maria Grazia

Power to the 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 colour which amazes both for its ability to enhance the light and for its adaptability, creating a dialogue here with the linearity of the building’s volumes – the alternation of glazed and solid blocks, pillars and voids – and with the Pomodoro piece located at the entrance. A high-impact combination which conveys to visitors the taste for superior aesthetics that Nobili S.p.A. and Laminam naturally share.

Interiors

IN-SIDE is also the common denominator between the interior and exterior: in fact, as well as the pool that supports the statue, Pietra Piasentina Grigio is also used to clad the majestic internal staircase with winder treads and flush-mounted LEDs at the entrance to the premises. A strategic and aesthetic choice which conveys lightness and elevates the material, common thread of the interior design. The double-height spaces, lit by light tubes, are inspired by the American minimalist art movement, with interplays of light, symbols and transparencies helping to create a harmonious working environment.

Two other Laminam collections are used in the spaces, ensuring the continuity between the indoors and outdoors: Fokos in the Terra colour, used for the flooring, and Calce, once again in neutral Bianco, 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.