On Friday 16th January on the 47th floor of the Allianz Tower in CityLife Milan, Pietro Innocenti, CEO of Porsche Italia, unveiled the first details and images of the Porsche Experience Center Franciacorta, the first facility of its kind in Italy and the eighth of its kind in the world after Leipzig, Silverstone, Atlanta, Le Mans, Los Angeles, Shanghai and Hockenheim. Franciacorta will be the largest Porsche Experience Center in the world.
Last October GBPA ARCHITECTS, an integrated design company founded by architects Antonio Gioli and Federica De Leva, was commissioned to design the entire complex and will be responsible for redeveloping some of the existing buildings and creating new spaces.
The entire structure is housed on a total area of 559,000 square metres in the area of the current Franciacorta Circuit in Castrezzato (in the province of Brescia) and will house the world’s largest Customer Centre (5,600 square metres), the epicentre of the Porche Experience Centre.
The Customer Center, characterized by large glass surfaces, features an Agora, a multifunctional space of 2,400 square meters dominated by a characteristic suspension bridge, and a Meeting Center for the organization of conventions and plenary presentations. The reception area will then be completed by the restaurant and the exclusive terrace overlooking the racetrack.
The element that strongly distinguishes the Customer Center space is the large glossy white roof (in line with the Porsche colours) whose redevelopment aims to give a new image to the existing building.
The Customer Experience Center roof redevelopment project summarizes and strengthens the concept that guides all the interventions in the area, based on the principles of transparency and dynamism. These distinctive elements are translated at an architectural level into the alternation of opaque surfaces, glazing and sunshades which, as well as giving back different degrees of transparency and permeability, create horizontal cuts that accentuate the dynamic performance of the building and bring light into the interior, guaranteeing high environmental comfort and giving strength to the space below.
The large boulevard opens out from the Customer Center, connecting visitors to the more technical experiential area: the slopes and the Training Center, a project that forms part of an integrated Masterplan.
The track, obtained from the pre-existing racetrack and totally renewed in the asphalt, will have a length of 2,519 metres. There will also be an Off Road course, consisting of 12 exercises of increasing difficulty, and an area of over 30,000 square metres dedicated to safe and dynamic driving exercises, including the Low Friction Circle and the Kick Plate. There will also be a new Low Friction Handling track, to experience exciting power oversteers in complete safety.
For the 20,000 visitors expected every year, the Porsche Experience Center Franciacorta will also provide a Simulation Lab dedicated to the virtual reality driving experience, where it will be possible to test all the classic and modern Porsche models on the most famous circuits in the world, as well as an electric kart track.
The Porsche Experience Center will also host a Training Center dedicated to technical training – a specialist for operating personnel in Italy and will be equipped with a special classroom that will also allow visitors to watch some of the technical sessions as spectators.
The largest Porsche Experience Center in the world will be a facility dedicated to passion and innovation, a space open to the public created to welcome customers of the brand and beyond. There will also be events aimed at the general public, such as motorsport competitions and, specifically, the Carrera Cup Italia, as well as club meetings, events and events of partner companies and, in special spaces, programmes for the training of Porsche network personnel in Italy.
The work is expected to be completed in early 2021.
For more information visit www.gbpaarchitects.com.
PROJECT Porsche Experience Center Franciacorta
ARCHITECT GBPA Architects
LOCATION Franciacorta, Italy
YEAR 2021
