LAMM confirms its role as a leader in developing and manufacturing tailor-made solutions for the Educational sector with an exclusive, comprehensive supply of furniture for a new campus designed by SANAA studio.
Located in the heart of Milan, the prestigious Bocconi University has grown over time with a focus on quality, including the buildings that host and represent it.
The latest development is the recent campus-extension project by the 2 pioneering Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa from the SANAA studio (awarded the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 2010).
The project, spanning an area of almost 36.000 square metres where the former “Centrale del Latte” stood, is not just a simple building project, but a major landscaping project aimed at creating space open to city dwellers.
The new state-of-the-art and fully eco-sustainable complex is now home to four buildings for the SDA Bocconi School of Management, a tower-block hall of residence for students, a 2.000 square-metre sports centre with a modular gym for volleyball and basketball, a running track and the city’s first indoor Olympic-size swimming pool. A new underground car park and over 1.500 square metres’ worth of public parks and green spaces have also been built, all of which can be accessed by the citizens of Milan.
In this context, LAMM was called upon to develop, in collaboration with Dante Bonuccelli from Avenue Architects, innovative learning systems for the New Urban Bocconi Campus, located south of the historic University building, to be installed in the various areas involved in the project, including study benches, fixed armchairs, tables and platforms, with solutions tailored to the relevant areas, confirming the company’s ability to satisfy the increasingly complex and detailed design requirements of projects by maintaining key design features and the highest standards of quality and comfort at the same time.
The newly-designed armchairs made specially for this project are entirely self-contained and easy to move around, meaning that they adapt quickly and flexibly to ongoing changes in arrangement and use of space.
Characterised by elegant, refined shapes and innovative technological solutions, these are equipped with a tip-up writing tablet that folds away into the side and rechargeable lithium batteries that sit in a special compartment in the lower part of the backrest, meaning that movement is possible without compromising your ability to connect to surrounding technology.
The study benches, consisting of a front panel and fixed worktop, have been designed with vertical, coated-steel profiles that act as a structure and enable cables to be threaded through. The structure is fully concealed by extruded aluminium with concealed fittings. Writing surfaces with a standard depth of 40 cm are supported by an extruded aluminium structure, enabling cables to be passed through and electrical sockets to be installed, while keeping the whole work surface free and fully usable. The front part of the bench and worktop are made from laminated chipboard. All wooden parts are made using FSC®-certified wood.
In various classrooms, the furniture was installed on platforms, also supplied by LAMM, comprising of a supporting structure of iron pipes of varying cross section and fireproof chipboard flooring with parquet covering and oak-wood finish. The tiers were also designed to house ventilation and electrical systems.
In the main auditorium, however, where the furniture was installed on a flat surface, the benches were equipped with an innovative “sliding bar” system integrated into the floor. This system is equipped with an exclusive coplanar track device installed in the floor which allows for the movement and return of each seat within an individually-defined guide path.
Thanks to an integrated mechanism, once the seat is vacated, it automatically returns to its starting position at a constant speed, as slow or fast as desired. All whilst providing maximum acoustic comfort, thanks to the very low level of noise made by the device.
This solution offers considerable advantages. First of all, removing the spokes under the frame of the armchairs allows for the optimisation and increase in number of the seats available. Equally, their automatic return to the most space-saving position increases safety by freeing up escape routes, whilst also facilitating the cleaning of the rooms they are installed in.
The fact that, for this specific project, LAMM tables and study benches have been enriched with seats from the collection Frame of Alias, designed by Alberto Meda, confirms furtherly the overall high-quality level of the supply.
Project: New Urban Bocconi Campus
Location: Milan, Italy
Contractor: Università Bocconi di Milano
Architectural design: Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa from the SANAA studio
Year: 2019
Photos: Images Courtesy of Università Bocconi – Milano.
Photo ©2020 Federico Brunetti | ©Hisao Suzuki | ©Paolo Tonato
