special projects press we are social sustainability sustainability certifications industry 4.0 Interconnected factories Pedrali is an industry 4.0 company whose factories are equipped with interconnected machinery. Every year, a significant part of the company’s turnover is invested in innovation, technology, as well as digitised production. The “Fili d'erba” automated warehouse The year 2016 saw the inauguration of Pedrali’s “Grass Blades” automated warehouse designed by CZA - Cino Zucchi Architetti. This state-of-the-art, fully automated facility operates 24/7 for the storage of 16,880 pallets of finished and semi-finished products. The 29-metre high building covers a total area of 7,000 square meters connected to the existing industrial area via a skytrain and eight self-steering shuttles. The warehouse volume results from an assessment study of current and future production, handling and storage flows. With this important investment, the company not only has more space to stock products but is more time efficient in the production of products to order. The aim is to offer customers a better service and to meet the increasingly stringent deadlines of contract furniture projects. The “Grass Blades” automated warehouse, on the inside, is a perfectly oiled machine, and on the outside, an innovative project of industrial architecture. “The wall that protects Pedrali's new automated warehouse does not aim to be the representation of its inner content, a perfect mechanism, where the path for the robot carts cuts through the shelving structures like a canyon, but rather a visual wing that responds to the diverse conditions of the surrounding landscape. The primary parallelepiped is inflected by two volumetric projections. The first, in its south-west corner, takes up the visitor path inside the complex and continues the route of the canal that forms the western boundary of the perimeter. The second exits from the north-east corner with a daring cantilever, stripping back a part of the warehouse wall to reveal its inner workings through a large glass plate. It forms the missing side of the large loading and unloading bay and provides visual finish line from the entrance to the offices on the northern margin. A linking body, which houses the long green ribbon of the suspended visitor path, connects the warehouse to the existing warehouses. All four walls of the new warehouse are covered in finished smooth insulated panels in natural aluminium colour. Above these, a series of simple elements made with extruded aluminium profiles generates a visual pattern formed by a combination of vertical and oblique lines, like gigantic "blades of grass" that punctuate and demonstrate the dimensions of the blind and unarticulated surface of the facades, especially the large surface to the south. These elements have been left in the natural colour of aluminium on the side oriented to the east, looking towards the urban core of Mornico, while the western side, which faces the fields and the artificial canal, has been painted in three different shades of green. The interplay of the length, direction and intensity of the shadows of these "plates" over the course of the day, combined with their mixture of colours and the diversity of the frontal aspect, offering glimpses of the new warehouse from different points of view, generates a true "optical spectacle" of great beauty. The dull and uniform volume of new warehouse is thus transformed into a visual phenomenon which is rich in variations, a kind of natural "amplifier" of the time of day and the seasons. At times it dissolves into the misty sky, reflecting its grey-blue tones, and at others it becomes imbued with the bright green of the agricultural fields in spring. The architectural design of the warehouse and its spaces goes beyond the concept of pure "environmental mitigation" applied to many industrial facilities. Instead, it becomes an important signal of the roots of Pedrali and the people who work the specific area that is Bergamo, as well as their ability to dialogue with the markets and increasingly global businesses.“ Cino Zucchi hospitality outdoor residential workspaces & corporate information request how to reach us policy © 2021 Pedrali S.p.A. - VAT code 02001160981 By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Reject All Accept All Cookies Cookies Settings