Yesterday, 15 September, at San Pellegrino Terme, four of the most outstanding architecture firms in the world unveiled their innovative and futuristic projects to redesign the facility where San Pellegrino mineral water is bottled.
The Danish firm BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group), the Dutch studio MVRDV, Norway’s Snøhetta and the Italian architect Michele De Lucchi presented their visions to a jury coordinated by Prof. Luca Molinari, Architecture Consulting & Curatorship, and chairman of the competition.
The jury was composed of: Marco Settembri, Executive Vice-President Nestlé S.A. at the helm of Nestlé Waters; Magdi Batato, Executive Vice-President Nestlé S.A., Head of Operations; Stefano Agostini, President and CEO of Gruppo Sanpellegrino. They were joined by international personalities like Elena Manferdini, Giulio Cappellini, Laudomia Pucci, Edwin Heathcote.
The judges evaluated the projects and ideas for factors of innovation, efficiency, respect for the environment, sustainability and improvement of the workplace.
San Pellegrino, the world’s leading brand of mineral water, with a history of over 100 years as an emblem of taste and style, has launched an international architecture competition for the purpose of renovating its headquarters at San Pellegrino Terme though innovative and technologically advanced design. The objective is aesthetic harmony between the plant and the surrounding territory, paying particular attention to the image and values of the San Pellegrino brand, which since its birth in 1899 has developed its commitment to innovation and technological progress.
This project also bears direct witness to the close ties between San Pellegrino and its territory, the place where it all began, taking San Pellegrino Terme back to the golden age of the Belle Époque, when the town was an exclusive gathering place for the European aristocracy.
The four architecture firms have developed their projects by attempting to combine new trends in architecture with the values of the brand and the natural context of the production site.
“Our proposal embraces and enhances the existing architecture, forming an elegant setting that will allow visitors to experience the power and purity of the surrounding Alpine nature,” BIG indicates in its statement.
“A star is born! Our idea is to raise the present facility outside the landscape, giving new life to the industrial site in the heart of San Pellegrino Terme. Our San Pellegrino Experience Lab reinforces the link with the brand through the star,” says MVRDV.
“The Flagship Factory of San Pellegrino will be integrated with the area of the San Pellegrino springs. The connection between an experiential workshop and the community, together with the softening of the environmental impact of the existing plant, surrounded by the views of the hills behind the building, will fit the Factory into the context in physical and visual terms,” says Snøhetta.
“To be natural, to be pure, to be conscientious, to be cool and live in the Italian way: these are the four key themes with which we have reinterpreted the Factory of San Pellegrino,” says Michele De Lucchi.
At the end of September the company will announce the winner and the project schedule.
Updates on the various phases will be available at www.sanpellegrino.com and on the digital and social network channels of San Pellegrino.
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Instagram – @sanpellegrino_official
YouTube – www.youtube.com/user/SanPellegrinoTV
