Milan's skyline has welcomed a striking new addition with the completion of Casa Moncler, the new headquarters for the luxury fashion brand designed by ACPV ARCHITECTS Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel. Located within the innovative Symbiosis District in Milan's southern quadrant, this 77,000-square-meter complex represents a significant milestone in urban regeneration, transforming a former industrial area into a contemporary workplace that accommodates over 700 employees.
The architectural design spans six above-ground floors and two basement levels, reaching approximately 32 meters in height. The building's design philosophy draws inspiration from the site's industrial heritage, reinterpreting traditional manufacturing architecture through a contemporary lens. The structure features highly flexible workspaces and advanced environmental performance systems, creating a dialogue between the area's historical legacy and modern corporate needs.
Antonio Citterio, Chairman and Co-founder of ACPV ARCHITECTS, explained the project's vision: "We designed a building with a manufacturing character, rigorous and measured, that represents a significant intervention in Milan's urban development. The project comes from an ongoing dialogue between us, the architects, and the client: it is a statement of intent about the role architecture can play in shaping a contemporary corporate identity."
The headquarters embraces the "Building-as-a-City" concept, functioning as a complex urban organism that accommodates diverse functions and services while promoting interaction among different architectural typologies. The design incorporates elements of industrial archaeology, including a historic chimney that has been repurposed as a passive air capture device, drawing air from 60 meters above ground and distributing it within a bioclimatic greenhouse.
Patricia Viel, architect and Co-founder of ACPV ARCHITECTS, emphasized the project's urban impact: "Set within an urban context undergoing profound transformation, the building brings quality and vision back to a historically neglected area. The project integrates identity and innovation, people's well-being and environmental comfort, into a coherent system that represents a new paradigm for building: architecture designed to evolve with those who inhabit it."
The building's exterior presents a solid, compact volume that opens inward to reveal a large glazed courtyard, maximizing natural light intake and creating visual continuity between workspaces and the building's green heart. The southern facade opens onto an internal garden of approximately 7,500 square meters, designed in collaboration with Parcnouveau, featuring native tall trees and a central clearing for informal social interaction and outdoor activities.
Inside, the workspaces reflect the company's functional complexity through fluid and coherent environments that support collaboration and personal growth. Each floor is designed as an open, reconfigurable space that adapts to evolving work patterns. The building includes transversal spaces such as a modular auditorium, cafeteria, gymnasium, and meeting areas, creating a dynamic ecosystem that fosters idea exchange and employee well-being.
The project incorporates cutting-edge environmental strategies, with architecture and building systems working together to optimize energy performance and ensure high levels of acoustic and thermal comfort. The building envelope features extensive high-performance glazed surfaces and integrated shading systems that minimize thermal losses while maximizing efficient use of natural energy. High-efficiency mechanical systems optimize the balance between energy consumption, environmental comfort, and overall performance.
Sustainability remains at the forefront of the design, with interior materials sourced from regenerated production offcuts and waste, transformed into finishing elements, acoustic panels, and interior claddings. This approach reflects a commitment to material circularity and carbon footprint reduction. The building is currently pursuing LEED and WELL certifications, meeting the highest standards of environmental sustainability and workplace quality.
The bioclimatic greenhouse serves as a unique feature, hosting three distinct ecosystems: steppe, Mediterranean scrub, and cold desert, with plant species selected for their resilience and adaptability to local climatic conditions. Together with the external green area, this creates an integrated ecological system that contributes to microclimate regulation and strengthens the dialogue between architecture and nature.
Mauro Novazzi, architect and partner of ACPV ARCHITECTS, highlighted the broader urban context: "Symbiosis is an urban laboratory that redefines the relationship between city, public space, and productive activities, transforming a peripheral area into a sustainable ecosystem. Within this context, the Moncler headquarters emerges from a collaborative project, the result of a three-way partnership: Moncler's vision combined with Covivio's extensive experience has provided the opportunity for a development set to become a landmark for the Milan of the future."
Casa Moncler sits within the larger Symbiosis Community District, a comprehensive urban development spanning more than 125,000 square meters of former industrial land. The masterplan, also designed by ACPV ARCHITECTS and developed by Covivio, features an urban grid centered on a 1.3-kilometer pedestrian spine that functions as both an ecological corridor and social connector. This ambitious project integrates green spaces, water features, plazas, and areas for temporary events while hosting office buildings, educational facilities, and commercial functions within a coherent urban framework.
The Symbiosis District represents a pioneering approach to urban regeneration, transforming a marginal industrial zone into an integrated, sustainable, and multifunctional urban fabric. Through urban design that prioritizes pedestrian connectivity, quality public spaces, and innovative environmental solutions, it establishes a replicable model for dialogue between public and private sectors, as well as between nature and architecture, setting a new standard for Milan's future urban development.
