Laboratory buildings are often the graveyard of architects' good intentions, as stringent technical requirements leave little room for environmental and aesthetic concerns. Richard Meier & Partners' i.lab is an exception: the LEED Platinum–accredited research center near Milan provides flexible climate-controlled chemistry labs and material-testing facilities for cement company Italcementi. Its secondary role as a place for meetings and public events means it also demanded an appropriately expressive architecture.
The richness of that expression is exemplified by the projecting bladelike roof that shades the curtain-walled entrance hall at the tip of the building's V-shaped plan. The steel-trussed structure is clad with precast panels of white self-cleaning concrete also used for window mullions and louvers. It serves simultaneously as a demonstration of Italcementi's technical capabilities, a welcoming gesture, and a reference to the 150-year-old company's birthplace in neighboring Bergamo, Italy, to which it points like an arrow.
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