Monte dei Paschi di Siena - Shanghai Branch

Following a reorganization of the shanghainese branch of Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank, Quarta & Armando studio was asked to rethink the interior spaces, giving a fresh touch to this headquarter without forgetting the strong historical roots of this banking institution.

The design intervention mainly includes the entrance, the waiting area and the director’s open space office of the bank branch. In order to break the rigorous color palette present before the intervention, We explored the idea of using particularly strong and bright colors, finally going for an elegant and timeless Royal Blue that chromatically balances with the grays and whites tones of the rest of the space.
Partitions between public and office areas are rhythmically composed of opaque white walls and fluted glass, built in a way that allows natural light to penetrate the space and at the same time granting a certain privacy to the bank employees and the sensitive data they process.
In terms of furnishings we decided to keep the original Barcelona armchairs already present in the bank and we selected strong chromatic artworks to create a bold contrast with the blue flooring moquette.

Particular attention was paid to the reception element, where a portion of the iconic Siena’s
Piazza del Campo with its urban context was represented using the laser cut technique.
This urban reproduction dematerializes, leaving room for a bronze medallion with the historical symbol of the bank.

The layout has a rather fluid shape that creates corners with organic profiles suitable for hosting different plants that act as a background for both the office and reception areas.