Porphyry stone pavers were chosen for the pedestrian walkways and gardens of the new Diesel Headquarters. It is located in Breganze, a town in the northern Italian province of Vicenza. Diesel S.p.A. is an Italian design company. It is best known for luxury, ready to wear, clothing aimed at the young adult market. The architect for the project was Studio Ricatti.
The Porphyry paving, in fact, embellishes a traditional environment and also combines in a pleasant manner with the new buildings. Porphyry has been processed and laid with an interpretation of the stone in a modern and highly-advanced context. This project made use of grey color cubes of about 25,000 square feet, laid in straight lines, and cut slabs, also grey, of about 7,000 linear feet. A play of combinations of material and color which makes it possible to create new effects which are always special and unique, adapting to the requirements of the individual area and bringing out the very best of the space involved.
The headquarters can be defined as a low-rise hybrid building which keeps together different functional programs: offices, warehouses, exhibition spaces, an auditorium, a kindergarten, a canteen, a fitness center in addition to covered parking car and technological plants. The result is a small creative town whose community shares working spaces but also common ones, those where emerge the full meaning of working together and sharing different skills.
It was important to establish specific, recognizable qualities in harmony with the company’s corporate identity: the architectural language needed to reflect a contemporary and innovative approach, even if this risked going beyond conventional tastes that would have surely led to a less flexible design. A conducive environment for talented workers inspires imaginative ideas and, taking into account that future strategies of ‘Made in Italy’ industries should encourage creativity and change, the guiding tenant of this project was to concentrate on bold innovation, creating a workplace tailored to creative and intellectual labor that is on-going 8-10 hours a day. In short, Diesel strived to pioneer solutions where workspace equates cultural well-being for its human resources.
From the Porphyry Manual
“7.2.2. LAYING ‘PARALLEL LINES’
Laying parallel lines, widely used in the past, is becoming more and more popular recently.
To obtain well-made paving of this sort it is better not to design lines which are too long during the design phase, because non-uniform cubes can make it very difficult for the poser to maintain perfect lines, and the aesthetic effect is lost. It is therefore recommended to design a line of about 10 meters at most. For the same reasons it is better to avoid right-angled lines.
The lines of cubes can vary a lot, they can be right-angled, parallel or with different angles depending on the axis or the position of the buildings, herring-bone, etc.
It is also possible to create different geometric patterns such as squares, rectangles, trapeziums and other regular figures.
For this kind of laying, above all when the level of finishing has to be raised, it is better to use specifically produced cubes whose dimensional tolerances are within limits. However if standard cubes are used, it is important to be sure that the shape and the quality of the cubes are excellent.”
Porphyry’s composition determines its high compression strength, resistance to stains, slip resistance, and high freeze/thaw ratings. The stone is the most popular paver in Europe, and is favored for its flexibility in design, beauty, durability and low maintenance requirements. ADA Compliant Porphyry pavers are also adaptable to a permeable paving set. The stone is by far one of the most durable pavers in the world. These beautiful materials are available from Milestone Imports. Milestone supports the creativity of architects, planners and designers. Porphyry offers surfaces of various finishes and mixed colorings, tending towards tones of grey, gold, violet and red, depending on where it is extracted. The products are available in North America from Milestone Imports. – www.milestoneimports.com
