Raiffeisen Bank Colline del Ceresio
location: Savosa, Switzerland
built-up area: 3,200 sq. m
date: 2017
credits:
architect: Mino Caggiula
project manager: Thomas Giuliani
team: Luca Zingaro, Marco Brighenti, Andrea Maldarizzi
The planning for the competition held for the creation of the new Raiffeisen Bank Colline del Ceresio starts from the analysis of the territorial context that the new building is inserted into.
The project approaches the respective façades by establishing itself as a connecting link between the different realities and identities of the urban spaces of Savosa.
The architecture of the east side – which is the one with the most buildings – consists of a firm element, with a homogeneous façade, whereas on the west side the terracing theme opens up to a gentler landscape made of empty urban spaces and green areas that descend following a long perspective towards the plain in Bioggio. On the north side, a public square encourages the formation of an opening – both on the plan and the façade – thus creating the main entrance of the planimetric and volumetric structure.
The different types of interior and exterior façades of the new bank conceptually recall a Geode, a cavity inside an igneous rock lined with crystals.
The unbuilt space penetrates inside the building and moulds the ground floor, thus creating a round, full-height interior courtyard. The courtyard embodies the connection between the private space of the bank and the public space.
The first floor was designed for the consultants’ offices and the salespersons’ offices, whereas the administration department and the representative offices of the bank were placed on the second floor.
The access to the apartments on the upper floors is separate and outside the interaction flows typical of the buildings that are open to the public.
The three upper floors hold apartments that have different structures and adjustable sizes. The apartments include large terraces and green gardens that, by eroding upwards centripetally, draw the perspective towards the open views on the west side and embrace the sunset.
Moreover, choosing in the design phase to fan out the building on the northwest side allowed the lower floors and the courtyard to receive natural light, thus creating light and shadow effects, reflections and refractions that characterize the public space depending on the different sun angles.
