PRESS RELEASE

TURIN: THE INTESA SANPAOLO SKYSCRAPER IS READY

EMPLOYEES HAVE BEGUN MOVING INTO THE NEW HEADQUARTERS DESIGNED BY RENZO PIANO RPBW AND BUILT BY ITALIAN FIRMS IN THE INTERESTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY AND OPENING UP TO THE CITY

• It took less than five years to complete the project that had six of the world’s most qualified architectural offices competing for its construction
• Also completed was the redevelopment of the nearby common green area and the access streets at the sides
• An investment of about half a billion euro, including design and interior furnishing
• A unique building because of its environmental sustainability and architectural innovation: cladding of a moveable “double skin” of glass that is one of the biggest in the world, geothermal heat and LED lighting, a bioclimatic greenhouse, loads supported by six mega-columns, a “suspended” auditorium with variable internal layout
• Modern and functional work places for about 2,000 Intesa Sanpaolo employees, including the group’s top management
• Entire floors devoted to recreation and service areas open to the public
• Three below-ground floors for parking; reachable by train and main urban transport, including the metro
• Costs for the management of the building and the mobility of Intesa Sanpaolo employees reduced by discontinuing city offices it did not own.

Turin, 20 January 2015 – Intesa Sanpaolo has new headquarters: the new skyscraper the bank built in Turin on Corso Vittorio Emanuele II and Corso Inghilterra and close to the high speed railway station at Porta Susa. Last December, the first employees of the group – about a hundred - began to move in and the process will be almost completed by the end of March when about 2,000 people will have arrived. The transparent tower of glass and light-coloured steel covers an area of 7,000 m2 and is 166 metres tall, slightly less than the symbol of the city, the Mole Antonelliana. Some of the building’s 44 floors (38 above ground), connected by 17 lifts, are open to the public, confirming the historic bond between the Bank and the territory which dates back to 1563 and has been renewed and innovated.

The work required a total investment – including design and furnishings – of about half a billion euro, 2,5 million of which for the redevelopment of Giardino Grosa, the public green area situated between the skyscraper and Turin Law Courts.

The new headquarters host the Chairman’s offices and rooms for the corporate boards, the head offices of the Banca dei Territori, Risk Management, Lending, Personnel, training classes, Intesa Sanpaolo Group Services, Internal Auditing, Intesa Sanpaolo Assicura and some of the Bank’s other offices. The thirty-first floor will be occupied entirely by the Centre for Innovation, with technological equipment for the research and interdisciplinary work carried out by this organisation. At the same time, Intesa Sanpaolo will discontinue the offices it does not own in Turin and streamline real estate management and employee mobility.

The skyscraper has three floors of underground parking with a total of 320 spaces for cars, 100 for motorbikes, 100 external spaces for bicycles and it can be reached by train and main public transport, including the metro.

The new Intesa Sanpaolo headquarters includes a canteen and a crèche. The floors used for offices – a total of 27 connected on the south side by a glass staircase that is also a “winter garden” – are extensive open spaces for 80-100 people. They are furnished with extendable tables seating from four to six, meeting rooms and areas for refreshments and informal meetings aimed at fostering interaction, mobility and team work. All employees will have a laptop, docking station and Wi-Fi connection.

The spaces open to the public include the suspended auditorium, the bioclimatic greenhouse with refreshment areas located at the top of the tower, and the Bank’s branch office, which is accessed from the ground floor. 
The multifunctional room with rollaway seating for 364 can be quickly transformed into a room for concerts or conferences. It is situated at the bottom of the tower and because it is hung it has no vertical supports to obstruct the view of, and involvement in, the city. This solution was made possible by an unprecedented construction conception: six mega- columns positioned around the perimeter and a double transfer beam over the auditorium. The transfer beam supports the weight of the floors above, including the auditorium floor which is suspended from the tower, and transfers it to the mega-columns which, in their turn, transfer it to the basement. The latter holds the world record of 12,800 cubic metres of reinforced concrete guaranteed by continuous flow mixer trucks.
The top of the tower, reachable by lift in about 30 seconds, hosts the bioclimatic greenhouse with tall trees. It occupies three floors of the building and has a panoramic view of the city. In this space there is also a restaurant, a multifunctional room and a cafeteria.

In 2006, the Bank’s Board of Directors approved the project for the construction of the new headquarters following a competition in which six of the world’s most qualified architectural firms took part. The proposal presented by Renzo Piano RPBW won because of its innovative architecture, environmental sustainability and optimum integration of work spaces and those open to the public. The construction contract went to the Rizzani de Eccher group in association with Implenia Italia, both based in Udine and among the sector’s major operators. The construction work involved an average of 500 labourers and technicians of different nationalities who worked in three shifts.

In collaboration with Intesa Sanpaolo and Turin Chamber of Commerce, the Turin Polytechnic dedicated to the skyscraper a Second Level Masters for the Design and Construction of Tall Buildings, which enabled 35 university students to complete a unique course on campus and in the field by combining polytechnic, financial, economic and administration subjects.

From the aspect of environmental sustainability, the Intesa Sanpaolo skyscraper will obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification thanks to the optimum recovery, control and containment of overall energy consumption.
The building is supplied with hydroelectric power and by 1,600 square metres of photovoltaic panelling installed on the south façade; moreover, 80% of the lighting is by LED. In normal operating conditions, the skyscraper produces no polluting emissions. On the east and west sides of the building, the so-called “double skin” is composed of glass walls about 2.5 metres apart, an “active” façade controlled from a central system which opens and closes louvres that are among the biggest in the world. A network of sensors reveals different daily and seasonal weather conditions, maximizing the use of sunlight to heat the environments and dispersing heat thanks to interstice ventilation and the protection afforded by mobile solar screens inserted between the two walls. The heat pump heating and cooling system does not use gas but the thermal energy from groundwater. Collected in special wells, rain water supplies the irrigation network for the green areas and the toilet flush tanks. The interior illumination system adjusts the amount of light supplied in accordance with the level of natural light and the presence of people. Micro-perforated radiant panels suspended from the ceiling are used for air conditioning, thereby eliminating the noise of forced mechanical ventilation for excellent environmental comfort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For information
Intesa Sanpaolo
Banca dei Territori Media Office and Local Media
Tel +39 0115556652
stampa@intesasanpaolo.com