DATA SHEET

Owner: Davines
Architecture: Matteo Thun & Partners, technical director Luca Colombo
Interior design: Molteni&C|Dada Contract Division, design by Monica Signani
Landscape architect: del Buono Gazerwitz
Furnishings: Molteni&C|Dada Contract Division
Lighting: Flos (corridor), Viabizzuno (offices)
Bathrooms: Zucchetti
Wood laminar façade: Uniform
Roof covering: Zintek
Greenhouse, iron walls and glass offices structures: Vetreria Busnelli, Secco (profiles)
Photo credits: Max Zambelli

Nominated by Istituto Italia (in 2008) as one of the best 100 companies to work in, Davines, specialised in professional hair and skincare products, inaugurates its new headquarters near Parma. The project was born from the pencil of Matteo Thun&Partners, with Luca Colombo as the technical director and with an interior project designed by the interior designer Monica Signani and realised by Molteni & C|Dada Contract Division. “The starting point was the wellbeing of the employees, a key factor that has guided us throughout the design of the offices, production facilities and warehouse.”

“We sought to create a functional village with a harmonious aesthetic that combines traditional rural architectural forms with innovative volumes, expressed around the greenhouse and the ample green spaces” – these are the words of the architect Thun. The project was conceived by subtraction, on a surface area of 77,000 square metres. The new headquarters occupies 20% of the area (11,000 square metres) and includes spaces dedicated to offices, training, a research and development laboratory, production plant, warehouse and a large greenhouse area occupied by restaurants and co-working spaces. The green areas, designed by the del Buono Gazerwitz studio, comprise the rest of the area with various spaces including two internal courtyards with a pool of water and a scientific garden designed for the cultivation of some plant species used in the cosmetic products.

Another subtraction that characterises the Davines Village is that of the masonry elements: the two-storey natural oak wood structures, with titanium zinc roofing, are kept to a minimum to leave space for the use of the glass that gives to each work station a view overlooking the green areas. The warehouse is a prefabricated building, where the use of white and grey prevails, with self-cleaning concrete façades and polycarbonate and zinc panels. White is also the colour of the reception area, where the sculptural architectural volume of the counter, clad in white Sivec marble, with etched brass edges, seems to rise directly from the resin floor.

Monica Signani has also taken care of the design of custom-made furniture with materials and finishes designed to the most minute detail, from galvanised bronze bases to linoleum tops, from etched brass edges to natural woods with oil finishes and back-painted glass tops. For the furniture, the master Gio Ponti has been chosen with the drawer D.655.1 and the bookcase D.357.1 re-edited by Molteni&C. The large bistro has a retro taste, with tables of different types and sizes, panelling in gris du marais blue grey marble and lacquer with a craquelé effect on the lava stone of the tops.