The colourful Moroccan landscapes, the geometric pattern of the Islamic tradition, the skilful plays of light and shadows are revived in a contemporary key by laa. Those elements area used as inspiration for the design of a system of facades, surrounding a building located in the city of Fes, intended for offices, showroom and warehouse. The facades convey multiple concepts: the company’s identity and logo represented by the lion. The functions of the building which are displayed from the exteriors, with the warehouse block opaque and the administration and commercial area semi-transparent. The technological research and visual expression of laa. Distinctive element of the building and the project, the facades are composed by a system of three independent layers (mesh, green oasis, external wall), for which laa chooses materials and architectural solutions that simultaneously and effectively respond to several problematic: the microclimatic characteristics of the site, the aesthetic impact of the building and the sustainability of the intervention. The mesh acts both as a decorative element and as a brise-soleil protecting the glazed area. Laa takes advantage of the material’s properties, designing fabrics with variable density depending on the radiation, and converts those highly technical aspects into a pattern inspired by the geometric shapes of local architecture. The final result is an effective solar radiation filtering that at the same time ensures the right amount of light in the offices and showroom area. A green filter acts as an additional thermal barrier, reducing the energy demand for the supply of air conditioning systems inside the building, also providing beautiful views from in the offices. For the warehouse coating laa develops a facade design repeating the pattern used for the mesh, with a decoration sublimated on aluminium sheets. This solution, which allows the different facades to dialogue with each other, creates a unique and distinctive decorative element. Through this stratification, guiding the visitors from the outside towards the interiors, laa represents the three main themes around which the proposal revolves: colour, light and surface. In Atlas Peintures the extremely rich color palette offered by the natural environment and Moroccan building is enriched and animated by the lights and shadows, offering significant vividness to details and sharpness characteristic of architectural volumes. The geometric order applies not only to the structure of the building, but also to the definition of the surfaces that becomes the main protagonist of the project. Color and light are the design themes adopted for the showroom interiors, guiding visitors in understanding paints and finishing. The result is a building capable of expressing visual continuity between interior and exterior spaces and defining a strong brand identity.
year: 2020 – on going
location: Fes, Marocco
function: showroom, offices, warehouse
scale: 2,900 sqm
client: Atlas Peintures
design team: Lorena Alessio
Samuel Fiolis, Julian Chavez Rodriguez, Francesca Meineri, Francesca Di Nuzzo, Alessia Sciotto
art director/graphics: Rosali Alessio design phases: preliminary design / development design / construction drawings