Four starchitects line up in race for San Pellegrino HQ

Four signature architects have entered a competition to design a headquarters for Italian soft drink producer San Pellegrino.

MVRDV’s design

San Pellegrino, which is been owned by Nestlé, exports its mineral water around the world. However, the project will be built on the site of its plant in Lombardy, northwestern Italy, where it has been sited since 1899.

According to the brief, the development should set "new standards in terms of efficiency and compliancy to environmental sustainability, all while providing a favourable working environment".

Snøhetta’s proposition

The four firms vying for the contract are:

• Bjarke Ingels Group According to the architect, this design will be "the aquatic equivalent of a wine cellar, where the repeating archways expand and contract to create the narrative framework for the purity and clarity of the mineral water".
• MVRDV The team says their design will "turn the factory even more into a star. We dream about a factory that enlarges its transparency, its honesty, its relation with the landscape".
• Snøhetta This project focuses on "integrating the factory into the area both physically and visually with a stainless steel mesh that adapts to the contours of the buildings and takes on new forms depending on viewing angle".
• Architetto Michele De Lucchi The Milan studio’s plan focuses on four themes: "To be natural, to be pure, to be conscientious, to be cool." The building will use transparent white glass facades and will have an external "water theatre".

Architetto Michele De Lucchi’s entry

The winning project is expected to be announced around the end of September.

Top image: BIG’s proposal for the project