The prolific Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has won a high-profile competition, that also included MVRDV, Snøhetta and aMDL, to design a new headquarters for purveyor of sparkling mineral water S.Pellegrino. Located in northern Italy, the €90 million (roughly US$95.6 million) project is expected to begin construction in 2018.
The S.Pellegrino Flagship Factory, as it's officially named, will comprise 17,000 sq m (182,986 sq ft) of floorspace and be built on the site of the original S.Pellegrino plant, where mineral water has been bottled since 1899.
The facility will feature the factory proper, offices and a visitor's center called the "Experience Lab." Design-wise, it will be dominated by archways of various size, vast vaults and covered tunnels, with the local scenery, including surrounding mountains and a river, revealed at certain points.
The project is described as an homage to classic elements of Italian architecture and will include an arcade, piazza and portico. A large rock feature will also be installed at the center of the complex to signify the natural water's long journey through the mineral rocks before being bottled.
"It is with great excitement that we embark on this collaboration with S.Pellegrino," said Bjarke Ingels in a press statement. "Rather than imposing a new identity on the existing complex, we propose to grow it out of the complex. Like the mineral water itself – the new S.Pellegrino Factory and Experience Lab will seem to spring from its natural source."
BIG is collaborating with Arup, Studio Verticale and others on the project. Work on a large bridge that's important for access will begin next year, then from 2019 onward, the offices, the northern wing of the factory and the Experience Lab will be built.
Check out the video below to watch Bjarke Ingels discuss the design.
Sources: BIG, S.Pellegrino