Building D comprises two superimposed volumes: a shorter four-floor-high portion whose top floors cantilever over Via Orobia, and a nine-floor-high portion with generous spatial arrangements for office spaces, and commercial spaces on the ground floor. The green outdoor garden located on the roof of the shorter volume improves employees’ well-being by offering a one-of-a-kind place for a casual walk or light physical exercise. The new building’s flexible layout facilitates agile work processes, fostering interaction through collaborative workspaces where people can connect seamlessly with colleagues working from home.

This optimized use of workspace allows the building to absorb new functions that diversify the ways in which people can experience the office environment. The kitchenette, the gym, the resting and hotel rooms of Building D ensure employees can access all essential facilities without needing to leave the premises. As a highly energy-efficient building designed with social sustainability in mind, Building D interacts with existing buildings and green public areas in its surroundings. The building’s use of materials, and the patterns drawn by its alternating glass and solid elements, recall the features of the adjacent Fastweb Headquarters, while the street level’s green areas and water surfaces merge with Piazza Olivetti – the square named after Italian engineer and entrepreneur Adriano Olivetti.

The completion of Building D is a major milestone in implementing ACPV ARCHITECTS’ Symbiosis masterplan that envisions an accessible new district, following a polycentric and pedestrian-friendly model of sustainable urban development. Part of the Sharing Cities project, a European initiative focused on innovative approaches to creating more environmentally sustainable and livable cities, Milan’s Symbiosis area is currently undergoing rapid transformation, offering new educational and service sector facilities in line with contemporary demands. ------------------------- CREDITS Building D (Symbiosis business district, Milan, Italy) is an architecture and interior design project by Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel for Covivio.

ACPV team: Antonio Citterio, Patricia Viel, with Mauro Novazzi, and Alessandra Guadagnino, Domenico Cattolico, Alessandro Marini, Silvia Pirrera, Nicolò Rosmarini, Daniele Raimondi.