Migliore+Servetto Architects Dmail headquarters Pontassieve

The partnership between Migliore + Servetto Architects and the dmail brand began in 2016, when the architectural practice founded by Ico Migliore and Mara Servetto was appointed to design a new logo. For the well-known brand, which has been making accessories for the home, office and leisure for more than thirty years, summed up in the slogan " ideas that are useful and impossible to find ", the architects came up with a lively, dynamic graphic symbol as the ideal expression of a young brand that is always coming up with something new. They chose the circle as the element generating the individual letters, with two vertical dots on the “i” forming the distinctive sign that makes the trademark stand out. The architects also introduced two circles out of scale above the logo, representing two big, curious eyes in search of new "ideas that are useful and impossible to find". These two elements become the key features of the brand’s visual identity, expressed in a variety of different colours, textures and transparencies. Another important element of the brand’s coordinated image is the colour yellow: an even, bright yellow, standing for light, energy and dynamism.

And it is this bright yellow colour that makes the brand’s 27 shops in 18 Italian cities between Milan and Palermo instantly recognisable, as well as the company’s e-commerce site, print catalogue and, of course, its new headquarters.
The brand’s new headquarters designed by Migliore+Servetto Architects opened on July 2 in Pontassieve, where the company was founded. The architects came up with an interior design project that makes the company’s headquarters consistent with its coordinated brand image. The offices, with their utility and technical areas, are arranged on two floors measuring 1200 square metres, with adjacent outdoor spaces. The graphic symbol Migliore+Servetto designed for the brand appears on the building’s façade in the form of three illuminated signs. The yellow circle, which becomes a seal on the company’s products, appears on the low wall by the entrance in the form of a round graphic element showing the way into the building, immediately associable with the graphics in the group’s stores. A typical store layout is faithfully copied on the ground floor of the company’s new headquarters, dedicated to products and brand communications, with spaces for hosting suppliers and customers, such as a lounge, meeting room and break area informal get-togethers, as well as technical work spaces including a product testing laboratory, a room for photographing items to be put up for sale and, of course, a warehouse.
Private offices, open space work areas and meeting rooms make the first floor the company’s primary workspace. Here the organisation of space may appear classic, with a central corridor leading to various offices, but the architects have created a multi-purpose wall to add character and transform this central space into a place of connection and encounters among employees. About 35 metres long, the fitted wall features a system of different modules and volumes containing chairs, furnishings, bookshelves and numbered lockers. Directional graphics along the side walls guide users and identify different activities. The colour yellow and the use of light in the furnishings and lighting systems underline perspectives and solutions and ensure the continuity of the design and the company’s coordinated image.

(Agnese Bifulco)

Architects: MIGLIORE+SERVETTO Architects (Ico Migliore and Mara Servetto)
Client: dmail, Percassi Group
Location: Pontassieve (Florence) - Italy
Images courtesy of dmail

 

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