The Omes factory is an attempt at improving the state of the art of industrial buildings in Italy.
The design strategy is based on 3 key elements:
- Steel frame, lightweight and recyclable
- High insulation cladding
- High efficiency services
The production area makes use of the entire ground floor. The second floor, raising up from the core of the building and flanked by 2 side terraces, houses offices, storeroom, changing rooms and a canteen. The office zone is surrounded by large glass panes on three sides, allowing the benefit of natural light and ventilation through the exposure to outdoor breezes. This advantageous height and superior visibility offers the pleasure of a view of the Turin hills and the Alps, creating a relaxing environment for those working with computers. One of the two terraces is accessible by workers and serves as an outdoor communal relax area.
Ecologically compatible materials were preferred, as is the case of polyolefines membranes (for waterproofing of the roofs) and linoleum (for the flooring). Where possible, recyclable materials were chosen (steel and aluminium).
The finished building, with its exterior silver coloured panels and its red metal structure, expresses the corporate identity of the company, which produces components in aluminium and has a red logo.
The premises were put into use a few days following the completion, after eight months of work on site.
Thanks to the higly insulated building envelope and the adoption of condensing boilers, a first estimate of overhead costs per year on a metres cubed basis has indicated an approx 50 percent saving when compared to the older plant.
Further analysis developed with iiSBE Italia to evaluate the overall environmental performance of the building have shown a good improvemnt on current Italian industrial building standards. This was the first case of application of the SBtool environmental scoring system to a building of this kind.