Banca Toscana, Head office Florence

The project for re-organizing the most prestigious branch of the Banca Toscana, situated in the most famous historical area of Florence, Piazza della Signoria, has united and interpreted various requirements: on the one hand the need to reorganize the working areas by creating new offices, services and technological systems, on the other hand the wish expressed by the Bank to have a different material and spatial connotation so as to reinvigorate its dialogue with architectural research and experimentation. At ground floor level the bank is conceived as a passage, an urban gallery that connects Piazza della Signoria with Via della Condotta. The new image of the bank is expressed in the natural materials used and the geometric precision with which they are put into place: for the floors and walls a grey sandstone was used; while pear wood was chosen for the fittings, especially benches and ceilings and Cor-Ten steel and copper were utilized for doors, windows and other parts in metal.

Brief: preliminary project, final design project, working plans and project management
Designed: 1999-2000
Realized: 2001 –2002
Collaborators: Federico Gurrieri, Francesco Gurrieri and Studio Engineer. Enrico Sodi (structural works)
Firm: S.E.I. Pty Ltd, Florence
Photographic credits: Alessandro Ciampi

PROJECT DATA

Locality: Florence
Client: Banca Toscana
Assignment: Preliminary, Final and Executive Design Project, Project Management
Design Date: 1999 – 2000
Date of Realization: 2001 – 2002
With: arch. Francesco Gurrieri, arch. Federico Gurrieri