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Classicism and contemporary minimalism in Ludoil Energy presidential offices by De.Tales

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The Milan-based studio De.Tales interprets each project by writing a tailor-made design tale, convinced that behind every creative concept there is a story to tell. They do this by remaining faithful to a peculiar style, based on purity of lines, functional eclecticism, and harmony of proportions. This is also the case for the project of the Milan presidential offices for Ludoil Energy, an integrated energy group that operates in the sectors of energy logistics and distribution, both of traditional and renewable sources, with an approach aimed at future innovation. The two souls, that of De.Tales and that of Ludoil Energy, have found synthesis within The Medelan, one of the most significant historic and architecturally valuable buildings in Milan, now the headquarters of the company.

Ludoil Energy presidential offices, Milan, Italy, De.Tales <br /> Image copyright: @Helenio Barbetta
Ludoil Energy presidential offices, Milan, Italy, De.Tales
Image copyright: @Helenio Barbetta
Ludoil Energy presidential offices, Milan, Italy, De.Tales <br /> Image copyright: @Helenio Barbetta
Ludoil Energy presidential offices, Milan, Italy, De.Tales
Image copyright: @Helenio Barbetta

Built in 1901 by architects Luigi Broggi and Cesare Nava, the building comprises 900 square meters of interior spaces and 130 square meters of exterior, designated for Ludoil Energy’s representative and operational management activities. The concept behind the project runs on a dual track: one of a classical matrix, perfectly fitting the early 20th-century Milanese context, and one that we could define as ‘contemporary minimal’, lean and elegant, played on the contrast between full and empty volumes. The result, an expression of the client’s operations in the renewable energy world, is a perfect harmony between tradition and modernity. Classicism and technological avant-garde are expressed in the preference for an intense blue – Ludoil Energy's institutional colour – with finishes ranging from marble to mirror-effect metals, up to bronzed steel, fluted glass, and wood.

Ludoil Energy presidential offices, Milan, Italy, De.Tales <br /> Image copyright: @Helenio Barbetta
Ludoil Energy presidential offices, Milan, Italy, De.Tales
Image copyright: @Helenio Barbetta
Ludoil Energy presidential offices, Milan, Italy, De.Tales <br /> Image copyright: @Helenio Barbetta
Ludoil Energy presidential offices, Milan, Italy, De.Tales
Image copyright: @Helenio Barbetta

The articulation of the spaces reproduces early 20th-century Milanese interiors, with compositional paradigms typical of the era. Thus, we find patterned parquet, walnut walls, natural stones, marbles, and glasses, with distinctive ribbed finishes. The suggestion created by the semi-transparencies of the glass is also peculiar, allowing natural light to flow inside while maintaining a sense of privacy. The bourgeois residential atmosphere is also felt in the reception area, created on the model of large Milanese entrances, with custom-designed sculptural elements. Finally, the corridor, the main axis and distribution element from which the different areas branch off, was designed on the model of an art gallery.

The common areas and offices are distributed according to a rhythm between closed or open places, determining the dynamism of the whole. In addition, a specific choice of furniture goes in the direction of a private residence, in a hybrid model that well expresses the contemporary need to perceive workspaces as places of comfort: “Working becomes inhabiting, within the Ludoil presidential offices: the compositional approach to the project, inspired by residential but destined for the office context, has defined the genetics of the spaces by enhancing the style and sobriety of Milan and its interiors, but also the dynamism of a major energy group in Italy” explained Igor Rebosio and Giuseppe Varsavia, respectively Design Director and Managing Director of De.Tales. As for the colour palette, in addition to the aforementioned blue, the exterior areas and interior decor favour green, highlighting the company’s sustainable component.

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