The futuristic Porsche Experience Center at Castrezzato, Franciacorta, was designed by GBPA Architects, who rethought its entire masterplan, and engineering firm Dromo, who specialise in racetracks and were commissioned to upgrade the circuits.
Occupying an area of 60 hectares and costing 28 million Euros, the new Autodromo is the world’s largest Porsche Experience Center and the first in Italy, and is also approved for FIA races. Here, at least for a few hours, fans of the famous German brand can enjoy the thrill of driving a power-packed Porsche on a circuit of over 2500 metres.
With its strong identity, the Customer Center, which stands on the Provinciale 16 main road, is the complex’s key architectural feature: it is a multifunctional facility arranged around a piazza, with a carefully designed alternation of glazed surfaces and solid walls. As the architects explain, “the two flights of steps that rise from the ground floor” - which houses the restaurant, coffee shop and store - “also serve as spectator terraces, transforming the square into a theatre”.
The coverings are in shades of greige, beautifully provided by Ragno porcelain stoneware, which combines its famed resistance to heavy-duty use with impeccable, elegant aesthetic continuity, here in the form of an alternation of colors that are not merely a functional and decorative feature but an essential part of the architecture itself.
The tactile Realstone stone-effect stoneware collection welcomes the visitor right from the main entrance and in the restaurant area (in the Rain Taupe 75x75 cm variant, inspired by British Limestone) and then continues in the Lunar Silver rectified natural variant (75x150 cm) in the car showroom, on the steps and in the bar counter covering.
For the washroom floor, on the other hand, GBPA preferred the vibrant concrete look of the Boom Luce collection (60x60 cm), accompanied by the silky, slightly uneven surface of Tactile Resina. The wood effect of Woodliving Biondo, demonstrating Ragno’s highly sophisticated use of color, proved perfect for adding warmth to the interiors in the bar area, used on both the floor and the walls.
The material selected for the outdoor area was another form of wood-effect stoneware, this time Woodliving XT20 (the 2 cm extra-thick version) in Biondo color. Ragno XT20 products are ideal for outdoor installation, as they are resistant to chemicals and thermal shock, immune to water and anti-slip.
Ph Andrea Martiradonna
