TAD Headquarter | Ottavio Di Blasi

Despite the modern and unusual aspect, the building that houses the new TAD offices in Lainate (Milan) isn’t a completely new construction, but the outcome of the transformation of a building dating back to the Fifties. There were some serious structural faults caused by the deformation of the load-bearing steel columns. The choice was between the demolition and the rehabilitation, but both the options were unacceptable by the client, due to the presence of 80 employees daily working in. It was to deal precisely with this problem that a new load-bearing structure was studied to stand outside the old offices and support the building from above. The new load-bearing shell consist of twelve columns, each resting on independent foundations with a spatial reticular structure fixed around. The transfer of the weight from the old to the new structure comes about through the connecting of some high resistant steel bars to the top of the old columns, thereby allowing the transfer of the working load of the whole building to the new exterior pillars. The new facade takes on the bearing of a real “skin”, and performs the two functions, both as a protective layer and a support for the distribution of electric and mechanical installations. Furthermore, in order to make up for the unfortunate positioning of the building, with its main side facing directly the south, the facades have been cladded in a system of adjustable “flaps” made of perforated aluminium sheet. The building refused the traditional idea of a masonry box perforated by windows; instead, it becomes a unique organism in which the external appearance changes according with the season and the hours.