Pritzker Prize-winning architect Thom Mayne's firm Morphosis has completed a new headquarters for an energy company, evoking geological formations on its façade in Milan, Italy.

The 73,826-square-metre project, described as a "sustainable headquarters" for Italian energy giant Eni, was envisioned to promote employees' health and wellness encircling a piazza outside of Milan.

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Named The Exploration and Production Business Center, the campus serves for the company's corporate headquarters, housing offices, conference center, public exhibition space, company restaurant, and café.

The campus, owned by DeA Capital Real Estate, is centered around natural light, green space and social areas, covering 65,000 square meters and with space for 4,600 workstations.

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

The project is comprised of massive and irrregular volumes that are interlocked each other, with a free-span 85-metre bridge. The bridge, resembling a floating element from afar, doubles as event space as well as a connection point. 

"We conceived this project as a fragment of the city organized around its own ‘public space’—a campus for nurturing discourse, interaction, and identity," said Morphosis founder and Design Director Thom Mayne.

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

The project is situated southeast of Milan in the Metanopoli district of San Donato Milanese. Morphosis’ new design preserves a portion of the historic Eni campus that has served as the company's headquarters since 1952, honoring the company’s legacy as part of Italy’s post-war "economic miracle" while looking toward its future in the transition to sustainable energy.

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

"We aligned with Eni to create a campus that promotes health, well-being, and community," said Arne Emerson, Partner at Morphosis.

"Gardens and landscaping, access to natural light, pedestrian bridges, and a central pizza encourage employees to socialize and connect with nature throughout the day."

"We were already focusing on the employee experience when we began the design process, and this focus became even more important post-coved," Emerson added.

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Today, the post-pandemic workplace remains a fragmented one; as many companies return from remote working to office or hybrid scenarios, many corporations are focusing on the quality of the workplace to enhance employee retention. In this environment, Morphosis has endeavored to create a corporate campus where employees actually want to work.

In addition to employee health and wellness, sustainability was also a vital consideration. Morphosis used high-performance and sustainable design strategies to support Eni’s goals around environmental stewardship, such as reduction of energy consumption and preservation of natural resources; the result is projected to meet Classe A energy requirements and achieve LEED Gold Italia.

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

The campus is comprised of three main buildings interconnected by sky bridges. The first one is Icon Tower - which is the tallest, reaching at 11 stories. 

The second one is the Landmark Tower which is the biggest - covering 23,700 square meters scattered on 9 floors. The final piece is the Sky-Garden Tower - which is a ten-story central building that hosts a conference center and a canteen. 

A free-span 85-metre bridge connects The Icon and Landmark Towers and doubles as event space as well as a connection point. A similar skybridge also connects the Sky-Garden and Icon towers. 

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

"These interconnected office towers encircle a central piazza with multi-level gardens that house shared spaces for socialization and dining, which are designed to support connectivity and health and wellness among employees," said Morpohosis.

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Morphosis designed floor plans as flexible as possible to be efficient, modern in an open office structure. The building is enhanced with abundant windows, allowing most employees - based on the perimeter of each floor plate - to experience ample natural light and views. Private offices and meeting rooms are placed in the middle on a central axis.

The orientation of the building is optimized to achieve passive shading conditions. 

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

For example, landscaping favors biodiversity and local plants, energy conservation is aided by green roofs, a brise-soleil façade and photovoltaic systems; waste and rain-water recycling ensure resources are maximized and conserved; and office environments and social spaces maximize natural light and airflow while using low-energy radiant heating/cooling. 

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

The façade of each building is inspired by the geological formations necessary for an energy company to exist, with coloring via blue and orange metal panels contributing to the impression that the complex is rising out of the ground ‘architectonically’ in a progressive stratification.

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Jasmine Park © Morphosis

Image by Roland Halbe © Morphosis

Image by Roland Halbe © Morphosis

Image by Roland Halbe © Morphosis

Image by Roland Halbe © Morphosis

The building targets Leed Gold Certification, a green building rating system given for the design and construction of high-performance commercial buildings in Italy. 

Morphosis recently completed the Vialia Vigo Intermodal Station in the seaside city of Vigo on the western coast of Spain, and Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), featuring a sweeping form and high-performance façade in California, United States.

Morphosis is a global architecture and design firm creating work that is compelling, intelligent, pragmatic and powerful. 

Morphosis was founded by Thom Mayne in 1972 in Los Angeles and New York City as an interdisciplinary practice involved in rigorous design and research that yields innovative, iconic buildings and urban environments.

Project facts

Porject name: The Exploration and Production Business Center 

Architects: Morphosis

Location: Milan, Italy

Size: 73,826 m2

Construction: 2018-2023

Design Director: Thom Mayne

Project Partner: Arne Emerson

Project Team: Ilaria Campi, Ed Kim, Jason Minor, David Rindlaub, Satoru Sugihara, Atsushi Sugiuchi

Advanced Tech: Cory Brugger, Kerenza Harris

Associate Architect: Nemesi & Partners, SCE Project

Structural Engineer: SCE Project, Setec TPI

MEP Engineer: Manens-Tifs Ingegneria, Setec Batiment

Civil Engineer: Setec Batiment

Sustainability / LEED: Setec Batiment

Landscape Architect: Pasodoble

Acoustics Engineer: Manens-Tifs Ingegneria

Façade: Arup, SCE Project 

General Contractor: Webuild

Top image in the article: Jasmine Park © Morphosis. 

All drawings © Morphosis.

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