Inside the biomedical spaceship

Inaugurated in June 2016, Eurosets’s new HQ is designed to make a statement. Formed in 1991 in Medolla, in the province of Modena, Eurosets leads the domestic and international market in the production of biomedical devices. The company was determined to respond positively to the damage caused by the earthquake that hit the area in 2012 and the flooding of the nearby river Secchia in 2014. The radical reconstruction of the firm’s plant and offices was, above all, intended to communicate the fact that rebuilding offered an excellent chance to look to the future as well as satisfy immediate needs. The result of close synergy between designers, technicians, employees and company management, the project aimed to achieve three main objectives: establishing a new relationship with the surrounding countryside, creating an effectively sustainable production plant and providing a pleasant and healthy place of work.
From the outside, the new HQ, designated “InHabito” by the architects, appears as an imposing single volume. The complex has been described as a “sustainable biomedical spaceship” for the care taken over its indoor climate and for its shape, which contrasts dramatically with the monotony of the Po plain. The complex stands out for its changing vertical profile and sun shades in plasticWood (a 100% recyclable material made from resin and wood flour). These run around the building, reducing its energy needs and conveying the image of a unified exterior, hiding an internal division between the management offices and the large production and raw material warehousing area.
The two internal zones are interconnected by a central courtyard and service block that combine to form the physical and symbolic heart of the building. This function is reinforced by the presence of the canteen and common areas where blue and white-collar workers can meet. All indoor areas are designed to provide space for relaxation and interaction as well as production, and maintain an excellent balance between bioclimatic principles and functional requirements. In the management and connecting block, the glass surfaces overlooking the internal patio-garden provide a common denominator for the indoor environment and an important source of natural light, filtered by vegetation chosen to ensure the ideal ratio between light and shade. A roof garden extends indoor space outwards into nature, and also provides effective thermal insulation for the work spaces beneath.
The interior is finished in a range of colours and materials, agreed with the customer, to visually identify different areas while maintaining perceptual and functional harmony. The floors are covered in 3,500 sq.m of Refin large porcelain tile, chosen to ensure excellent technical performance and hygiene and as a key design element. Indoor walkways and staircases are finished in urban-look tile collections, Graffiti on the ground floor and Design Industry on the first. The informal canteen area is in worn wood-cement look Plant series tile in warm Rope colour. Continuity of the outdoor routes linking the reception area, internal courtyard and roof-garden is ensured by mineral-effect Petrae tiles in Beige, inspired by the quartzite quarried in Barge, Piedmont.