High-performance surfaces for a famous brewery in Ethiopia
BGI Ethiopia, one of the largest brewers in the French Castel Group, entrusted the Rome-based Westway Architects firm with the design of its new headquarters, next to its factories in the centre of Addis Ababa. The renowned brewery wanted a very representative and impressive building that would powerfully relate to the urban context and the surrounding landscape. The main goal of the new headquarters is to express the corporate identity of a company that plays an important role in driving the Ethiopian economy. For all these reasons, the architects designed the façade to resemble a large beer mug, an original, yet institutional solution. The approach to the project was typically European, but respectful of the city’s traditions and context. Right on top of it, the building seems to unfold with a series of openings designed to ensure employees’ well-being. The building has eight floors and consists of a central core and two side wings.
Lea Ceramiche’s contribution
With the goal of combining two different building cultures, the traditional Ethiopian building structure – a reinforced concrete core and hollow concrete blocks with poor thermal performance – was flanked by a ventilated façade covered with Lea Ceramiche’s 3.5 mm-thick Slimtech surfaces, covering a total of 5500 square metres. The thin porcelain stoneware that wraps around the building recedes into the interior at certain points, becoming the cladding for the common areas and representing a continuous element between outside and inside. Slimtech includes slabs of record sizes (100×300 cm and 120×260 cm) characterised by an extraordinary lightness thanks to their reduced thickness, the result of a revolution in the traditional production process for resistant and flexible solutions. Lea Ceramica also made a significant contribution to the building’s interior with floor and wall coverings that fully express the brand’s product characteristics of strength, aesthetics and durability, offering exceptional performance that defies space and time. One of these is Protect® antibacterial technology, which protects surfaces 24 hours a day, eliminating up to 99.9% of bacteria.
Antibacterial performance became an essential part of this project, for which hygiene was a key requirement. This is why we used the material in all its forms and finishes on the floors, as well as in the building’s receptions and transit areas.
Arch. Maurizio Condoluci, Westway Architects
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Premium-quality surfaces in a highly sustainable building
The Aréna Business Campus in Budapest is comprised of 72,000 sq m of offices: four buildings with an impressive interior garden and a pedestrian area that give the space a unique and relaxing atmosphere. In particular, the District VIII offices are located in one of the most significant business locations in the Hungarian capital and are among the most modern in the entire city. They are defined as “high-quality” spaces, an expression that embraces various concepts, including sustainability. The buildings combine a focus on reducing environmental impact with attention for quality of life thanks to the possibility of working in a regenerated and regenerating environment. All the structures in the complex, designed by the Vikár és Lukács Építész Stúdió firm and by the Interior Designers of Barbara Krizsan Design Studio, are BREEAM-certified, which means that excellent sustainable methodologies have been adopted for their construction.
Lea Ceramiche’s contribution
Concreto is the Lea Ceramiche collection chosen for the floors and walls of the entrance lobby. Thanks to the lighter colour, Concreto Light, and the darker shade, Concreto Dark, the collection created a modern and linear contrast between the soft brightness of the floors and the elegant dark grey of the walls. Inspired by the material that best symbolises modern architecture, concrete, it is an extremely tactile and contemporary series in which Lea Ceramiche’s hallmarks – attention to detail and an ability to interpret the demands of interior design – are fully and emphatically expressed. This true architectural surface enhances the sophisticated contemporary look and is well-suited to the style of the Aréna Business Campus.
Discover the whole range of Lea Ceramiche products at the upcoming HD Expo Las Vegas, April 26-28, 2022.
Material and technical qualities coupled with the aesthetic values of Lea Ceramiche’s materials enter the 520 West 28th architectural complex, Zaha Hadid Architects’ first residential project in New York.
The collaboration with the prestigious London-based architecture firm is the latest of many partnerships between Lea Ceramiche and internationally renowned professionals. In recent years the company has worked with firms such as: Studio OMA (Rem Koolhaas with Chris van Duijn and Federico Pompignoli) for the Torre Prada Terrace; Stefano Boeri, Gianandrea Barreca and Giovanni La Varra for the Bosco Verticale; Fabio Novembre for Casa Milan: these important collaborations testify to the company’s ability to dialogue with high-end companies, as well as to the quality of its materials and to its extensive catalogue, which enables it to satisfy any style and technical efficiency requirements.
Located between the High Line and 28th Street, the architecturally striking building was designed to dialogue with the lively surrounding urban environment, the Chelsea neighbourhood in Manhattan. The eleven floors, which encompass a total of 39 apartments, each with its own identity and different viewpoints of the neighbourhood, feature a series of volumes that flow into each other, intertwining. The outer envelope, characterized by large glass windows and curved steel lines, is a clear hallmark of the style of the great architect, who won the Pritzker Prize and died prematurely in 2016. The innovative and modern design also distinguishes the building’s interiors, not only the futuristic, over 3 metre-high apartments designed by Jennifer Post Design and West Chin Architects, but also the 25-metre covered swimming pool, the IMAX cinema, the gym, the underground garage with a robotic system, and meticulously designed spaces that have made the futuristic building the new icon of the New York skyline.
Metropolis by Lea Ceramiche is the collection selected for the building’s Back of House areas. Presented in the Tokyo White colour, it creates surfaces with a neutral and bright colour; the series’ essential and contemporary style adapts very harmoniously to the setting, making the spaces airy and welcoming. Metropolis is also characterized by the special Protect antibacterial protection integrated in the material, which guarantees healthy, safe and protected environments, offering a perfect mix of aesthetic pleasure, quality, comfort, functionality and durability.
Credits
Project: 520 West 28th
Location: New York, United States
Project by: Zaha Hadid Architects
Year of completion: 2018
Lea Ceramiche products:
Metropolis collection
Design Research dept. Lea
UGL through-body stoneware
Tokyo White colour
Formats: 30x60cm; 60x60cm
Thickness: 10mm
With Protect antibacterial protection www.protect.panariagroup.it
Discover the whole range of Lea Ceramiche products at the upcoming HD Expo Las Vegas, April 26-28, 2022.
Lea Ceramiche‘s experience in the production of ceramics, capability in creating surfaces appropriate for any setting – interior spaces, architectural projects, installations and more – and ability to deliver highly customisable solutions have allowed the company to tackle a large number of design challenges around the globe over the years, often working with the world’s leading industry professionals and designers. The company’s most recent project is another prestigious one that has seen Lea Ceramiche team up with the Prada Foundation.
A few months ago, the Prada Tower was completed in the southern part of Milan. Designed by Rem Koolhaas with Chris van Duijn and Federico Pompignoli from the OMA design studio, the tower represents the final piece in the Prada Foundation jigsaw, after its launch three years ago. The building – made from white cement – encompasses nine storeys: six stories are home to exhibition areas, while the other three feature a restaurant and other visitor services.
Atop the tower is a terrace with rooftop bar, designed to be a flexible, exclusive space. The flooring features an optical illusion in black and white, made using tiles from Lea Ceramiche’s Absolute collection. The design is made up of a sequence of rectangular tiles in Slimtech porcelain stoneware which have been cut to measure and arranged according to a set geometric pattern. As a result, the surface seems bigger, while the mirrors used around the edges of the terrace erase the barrier between the rooftop space and the stunning 360° views of the city. The minimalism and purity of the materials – which feature just two dominant colors – and the unique laying pattern create attractive, subtle curves on the surface, delivering a high-impact aesthetic punch to the terrace.
Absolute Total White was also used for the flooring of some of the service areas, with bespoke 12x12cm tiles produced to create a tight criss-cross pattern on the surface. The Absolute collection is part of Slimtech by Lea Ceramiche, a revolutionary line of porcelain stoneware tiles combing large formats (3m x 1m and 260 x 120cm) with reduced thicknesses of 3.5, 5.5 and 6mm. The impressive tiles have been created using cutting-edge technology that has completely revolutionized ceramic manufacturing techniques. Their lightness, strength and versatility have made possible applications and creations that would have been unthinkable until recently, in both the residential and architectural sectors. As in the Prada Tower terrace project, the qualities of the tiles – combined with the company’s production capabilities and expertise – have enabled Lea Ceramiche to adapt its standard formats to fit the requirements of the designers and supply a custom-made product. It’s a fine example of how designers can work with members of the dynamic Italian production sector to great effect.
Credits:
Project: Prada Tower
Location: Milan, Italy
Project by: OMA
Lea Ceramiche products: Slimtech Absolute
Laminated porcelain stoneware reinforced with fiberglass
Thickness: 5,5mm
Colors: Total Black, Total White
Sizes: 100x100cm, 100x300cm
Finishes: Sat, Lev
With Protect antibacterial protection www.protect.panariagroup.it
Discover the whole range of Lea Ceramiche products at the upcoming HD Expo Las Vegas, August 24-25, 2021.
