CAP Holding

Designer Office Lighting

The CAP Group, which has been managing the aqueducts and sewers of many municipalities in Lombardy for over 90 years, serving the community and fully respecting the territory, has a new headquarters in Milan set in a residential context on the edge of the "La Spezia" park. Designed by drawing inspiration from water, with the aim of uniting all of the Group's offices in one place, the new HQ brought added value to the entire neighbourhood and provided the community with a space open to all, complete with an auditorium and other facilities in the planning stage.

The building, designed by Claudio Lucchin & Architetti Associati, is characterised by its enclosure-free form that takes its inspiration from water and its endless interconnections. It consists of a monolithic structure, characterised by a large overhang, which highlights the entrance and recalls the image of a floating ark. The exhibition area, bistro, nursery and conference rooms are located on the ground floor, while the main offices are on the upper floors. The project has obtained LEED certification and is in line with the latest principles of energy, environmental and economic sustainability. An environmentally friendly building designed to guarantee optimum comfort levels and a reduction in consumption, also from a lighting point of view, thanks to a careful choice of high-performance lighting fixtures.

The customer's request was a complete redesign of the interior in line with the new post-Covid requirements. Alter Studio Partners, therefore, developed a new functional distribution organisation chart on the basis of new logics and requirements that called for, on the one hand, more pleasant and cosy environments with attention to finishes, furnishings, colours and lights, and on the other, greater flexibility, with spaces organised in lofts and shared work areas, informal areas and desk sharing that can be booked via app and qr code.A complete reorganisation, therefore, saw the depersonalisation of rooms and offices in favour of greater socialisation. For this reason, lighting played a very important role. The general idea was to avoid classic office lighting, favouring the use of hanging lighting systems that would both optimise space with functional furniture and provide greater flexibility.

The innovative Rollip60_PC with controlled UGR, which prevents glare and ensures a high level of visual comfort throughout the working day, was chosen for the open-plan areas where the desks are located.

Particular attention has been paid to the informal areas that characterise the entire building on the different floors and are used as alternative work areas to the desk, as places for meetings and gatherings and finally as areas for relaxation. Designer lighting fixtures with modern lines and great aesthetic impact are installed here. The Mr. Magoo pendant luminaires, for example, chosen for the company library: a sky full of clouds that accompanies guests during reading. Or the Oxygen suspension luminaires, not forgetting the Oh! ball lamps that furnish and illuminate with simplicity and spontaneity and are also found in the dining area.

The room dedicated to the Board of Directors, organised in two adjoining and adjacent areas, required the installation of different solutions. For the lighting of the meeting table, placed under a glass ceiling with natural light, the Tour_PD pendant luminaires were chosen to guarantee a correct and effective emission even in the evenings. For the more informal part of the room, on the other hand, there is a cascade of Diphy with luminous and transparent petals that combine aesthetics and technology, and Thank You, the lamp with minimalist lines of great impact, made in a customised floor-standing version that blends perfectly into the different environments.

For the meeting rooms that can be freely booked via app, on the other hand, the Opti-Line suspension luminaire was chosen. It consists of a thin, micro-etched plate that, thanks to OptiLight™ technology, becomes completely transparent when switched off, while once switched on it generates diffused and uniform light.

Great care was also taken to illuminate the passage areas, corridors and lift exit areas. The Baton spotlight, with its essential and complementary shapes, was installed on the ceiling in the corridors dividing the desk-sharing areas; the Optus_T projector, very versatile thanks to its minimalist shapes and small dimensions, offering a clean and punctual light emission, was used for the corridor connecting the auditorium.For the landing areas located on each floor of the building, different luminaires were chosen for a twofold reason: on the one hand to characterise the environment with a lighting element of strong aesthetic impact and on the other hand to facilitate orientation through visual recognition of the lights used. Like Quad, for example, the suspension collection composed of the connection of several square modules, which emit indirect or double-emitted light that softly diffuses in space. An articulated design that creates suggestive atmospheres. Or Straight, the minimalist linear lamp, adaptable to different combinations, which gives touches of elegant simplicity. And again the Oh! suspension lamps, simple and elegant that blend in perfectly.

Finally, outdoors, the IP68-rated, white-light Admiral immersion uplight was used to light the fountain in the square in front, while the Mini-Parker, a luminaire with a refined and subtle shape, was used for the urban lighting of the square.

Credits:

Customer: CAP Holding S.p.A.

Architectural design: Studio Claudio Lucchin & Architetti Associati

Interior design, furnishings and lamps: Alterstudio Partners

Products: Rollip60_PC, Tour_PD, Diphy, Thank You custom floor-standing version, Oxygen, Mr. Magoo, Optus_T, Opti-Line, Quad, Straight, Oh!, Baton, Admiral, Mini Parker

Photos: Margherita Nardi

Year: 2022