In 2006, Studio Lauria was commissioned by Oliviero Toscani Quintet to design the offices and workshops of the “La Sterpaia” creative centre. The building is located in the green courtyard of the Royal Stables in San Rossore Park near Pisa, a landscape of exceptional value where the new intervention needed to sit lightly, without competing with the existing architecture or vegetation.
The approximately 285-square-metre building was conceived as a bespoke prefabricated structure. Its purpose was to create a contemporary, flexible and light-filled workplace for creative activities, workshops and communication projects. The simplicity of the layout allowed the spaces to be organised around different operational needs, making the architecture not merely a container but a tool for encouraging collaboration and the production of ideas.
The defining element is the façade cladding, made from Bencore cellular polycarbonate panels laminated to glass. This translucent skin diffuses natural light evenly through the interiors and softens the visual relationship with the outside. At night, light from the workspaces transforms the building into an opalescent lantern set in the landscape, bringing technological innovation, perceptual quality and sensitivity to context together.
Aware of the challenges of globalisation, we draw on Italian creativity to develop projects that respect and enhance local identities and cultures.
