“You cannot think of architecture without thinking of people.”
The words of the renowned architect Richard Rogers inspired the creation of a canteen for the employees of a prestigious high-fashion maison, where we were the general contractor.
“A forward-thinking project,” explained Marco Bottarelli, architect at GDG Design Studio, who managed the design and interiors. “The client’s vision was to completely renovate the company canteen, elevating it to something much more sophisticated. Tight deadlines, and attention to every detail: the challenge was met. Everything speaks of raw, authentic materials, craftsmanship, and artistry. The poetic nature of the space, inspired by the fascinating industrial atmospheres of the 1950s, incorporates simple elements like stained oak wood to create a refined environment. The softness and simplicity of the benches reference Alvar Aalto, while the central ‘Last Supper’ table is a love letter to Pier Luigi Nervi and his work. The execution was masterfully managed, navigating between expectations, project rigour, and speed.”
Behind the expertise of the GDG Design architects in the division of spaces and the refined taste with which they selected every finish and detail lies a construction site full of challenges and difficulties. A project that would normally require a five-month schedule was delivered in just 90 days thanks to meticulous project planning obsessive programming and coordination of activities.
None of this would have been possible without the dedication of all the skilled workers involved in the project—nearly 100 people worked on the approximately 300-square-meter space, including Saturdays, Sundays, and night shifts. The biggest challenge was maintaining an exceptionally high level of quality and safety in a site that changed shape daily to adapt to the ongoing activities.
“The feeling that will remain most impressed in my mind,” says our project manager Mattia Meccuni, “is the calmness with which the workgroup was able to face all the challenges that a construction site of such importance can present in moments of extreme pressure. Because, in the end, when you boil it down to the essence, our job is about solving problems.” “And today, looking back and reflecting on what has been accomplished, we can say with certainty that in a project like this, with such tight deadlines, it would have been impossible to complete the work without the proper experience and the right amount of calmness.”