Exploration and Production Business Center

As one of the world’s leading energy companies Eni champions an innovative and integrated approach to the environment, business, and energy exploration. Throughout its history, Eni has maintained an appreciation of geological systems and the complex composition of the natural world. Designed for Eni as its major tenant, the Exploration and Production Business Center expresses this history in a new corporate campus located ten kilometers southeast of Milan, in the comune of San Donato Milanese. The Center emerges from the landscape as an urban island, contributing to the development and culture of the low-density area. Biologically diverse gardens and high-performance buildings express Eni’s dedication to environmental stewardship and provide an optimal work setting for the exchange of ideas.
The concept for the campus and its facades is based on the layered composition of the Earth, evoking tectonic conditions in which diverse biological matter are incubated over millennia to produce energy. The buildings’ programmatic zones are organized in strata, with articulated elevations and striated colors drawing hues from the local context. Linked by sky-bridges, the visual and physical continuity of the three primary buildings further integrates the Center into San Donato Milanese and establishes a visual presence for the company. These interconnected office towers rise above public program areas to encircle a central, multilevel Piazza with dining and social spaces. The preserved historic Eni building along Via de Gasperi serves as the main entrance gateway to the new campus and houses a public Exposition Hall and meeting rooms. Balancing the dynamic, multi-layered buildings and their stratified elevations, the floor plans in each of the office buildings are efficient and flexible. Each floor plate maintains a constant width of 21 meters consisting of private offices and meeting rooms on a central axis. The majority of the desks are on the outer sides of the building to prioritize the general populace of employees and create a modern, open office structure. Abundant windows allow for ample natural light and views. This floor plan affords maximum flexibility of building usage to meet the company’s needs and is conducive to the reconfiguration of teams as new projects develop.
The Center is designed to meet Classe A energy requirements and achieve LEED Gold Italia, with various strategies employed to reduce overall energy consumption, preserve natural resources, and create a healthful and productive working environment for employees. Campus wide, building orientation is optimized; landscaping favors biodiversity and local plants; green roofs, façade shading, and photovoltaic systems aid in cooling and powering the campus; waste and rain-water recycling ensure resources are maximized and conserved; office environments and social spaces maximize natural light and airflow and use low-energy radiant heating/cooling. The new campus establishes a benchmark for sustainable design and social responsibility that champions Eni’s role as a steward of the environment.