TECHNOGYM VILLAGE

The main strength of the area chosen for the creation of the Technogym Village is its position not far from the A14 motorway, Cesena exit. Since the building facade looks onto the motorway, these facilities will enjoy great visibility and will become a reference point for car drivers; furthermore, the mobility of the company’s vehicles will thus be facilitated. The "Technogym Village” that gathers other office buildings, the Wellness Centre and the laboratories of the R&D group, looks onto the park. The new office building, that linearly develops along the industrial building for 200 metres distributed on four floors providing a total surface of about 10,700 sqm, will be erected next to the production site, in order to complement the functional units that have been included in the largest Technogym project.

The vertical distribution is guaranteed by the presence of three staircases, plus a shaft of two separated lifts and a panoramic staircase. The main entrance is through the park, near the most representative area which gathers the rooms of the presidency and the auditorium. A big curved roof in lamellar wood and the continuous façade in wood and glass looking onto the park enrich this building which, generally speaking, has a very simple and economic structure with a mixture of prefabricated elements in steel and reinforced concrete. Inside the building, the offices are organised on two different sides: the south side, towards the park, is shaded against the sun by the presence of the curved roof, whereas the north side, more operational, looks over the undulated roofing of the factory. The central area of the office building hosts the services, common spaces for meetings and open space work areas while along the facades there are the individual, closed offices. In line with the concept of “wellness”, this project underlines the relationship between the inside of the building and the outside looking onto the park (transparent indoor partitions) and the use of high performance natural materials (wood and glass). The site is complemented by the “Wellness Centre”, a building with an elliptical plan covering 2,700 sqm, connected to the offices situated near the main entrance. A gym and a SPA are housed in the two-level area which has been entirely designed in structural wood with transparent walls looking onto the park.

The intent with this project was to reduce to a minimum the sections of the elements, so as to create a light and elegant structure. The choice to unite timber elements with hidden steel plates was dictated by aesthetic reasons, but it also contributes to conferring greater fire resistance on the structure.

“In accordance with our philosophy, the new TGV was not meant to be just a manufacturing plant - but much more. It had to represent an enhanced way of life - and introduce a culture of personal well-being and improved health education, so as to enable the people involved in our ambitious project, to enjoy and benefit from a healthier life-style.

To do this we needed to create an architecturally enhanced environment, inspired by the concepts of eco-sustainability and bio-architecture. We appointed architect Antonio Citterio for the design because he has the experience and knowledge to interpret the philosophy and history of the Company and mould it, through an icon, to the Technogym brand.

Therefore, it followed that the choice of using natural materials, such as wood, was able toguarantee a low environmental impact and convey a feeling of warmth and harmony from interaction between man and nature. The engineered glulam oak curtain walls Unitherm, also used in the Wellness Centre, were able to translate that ecological concept into the reality of both, architectural and cultural harmony, for the benefit of all.”

Nerio e Pierluigi Alessandri

With an architectural surface area of some 60,000m², the "Village" by Technogym, the global leader in the production of gym & fitness equipment based in Cesena, Italy, is an example of innovation and the first "wellness campus"in the world. It represents a brand philosophy based on the architectural design of ‘place’ in which glass is at the very fore front. Solar protection is therefore vital: over 300 interior and exterior blinds were installed and fitted with the fabric Satiné 5500 by Mermet, the French manufacturer of technical and decorative fabrics for solar protection and the market leader in the design of glass yarn fabrics.

Completely transparent architectural design

In line with the concept of "wellness”developed by Technogym, the architects (Antonio Citterio, Patricia Viel & Partners) strove to achieve a creative and "designer"feel with low environmental impact. The project sits perfectly within its natural environment with a series of low, curved buildings made from natural materials (wood and glass) and is a demonstration of the philosophy of the company that wanted to focusits activities on a single location: production site, administrative and head offices, R&D centre and a large wellness centre dedicated to physical activity.

Selected for its minimal impact on the environment, solar protection by using blinds was the solution for meeting the thermal and visual comfort requirements of the occupants.Resstende, a blinds manufacturer and installer and a partner of Mermet, therefore selected the fabric Satiné 5500, a multi-use, hi-tech and decorative textile which boasts all the required properties.

Satiné 5500, two uses in a single fabric

In its chosen colour of 1006 Sable Bronze, the Satiné 5500 fabric by Mermet fits harmoniously into all buildings and offers numerous advantages to the buildings of the Technogym Village, both for the interior and exterior:

-excellent glare control, ideal for offices and meeting rooms. Through its diagonal satin weave, the fabric filters 92% of light rays while optimising the capture of natural light,

-unique transparency and clear vision to the outside, enabling an unobstructed view of the surrounding park to be maintained,

-excellent dimensional stability, especially for the larger widthsizes,

-certified non-flammable, with both Greenguard®and Enduris Glass Core certification, the Satiné 5500 fabric complies with health and safety requirements for buildings accessible to the public.

Accordingly, among the total of 316 blinds:

-122 interior blindsare divided among the various buildings. The production site in particular benefits from the technical properties of the Mermet fabrics with very sizeable blinds of up to 3.8m in width and 5.5m in length.

-Fitted on the exterior, the fabric offers excellent protection against heat,with 88% of the solar energy reflected back. With the main building being fully glazed, it alone required the fitting of 194 exterior blinds,here again in large dimensions (2.8m wide by 4.2m long). Three out of the four floors (the fourth being protected by the curve of the roof) were therefore fully fitted out with Mermet fabrics,which were also favoured for their unrivalled weather resistance.

"Providing solutions that improve everyone’s quality of life..." The Technogym motto that could just as well apply to Mermet, a company proud to have been providing solutions for over 60 years forthe most demanding of architectural designs in terms of solar protection.