Massimiliano Locatelli’s CLS Architetti Studio Set Inside a 16th-Century Church in Milan.

Photography © François Halard for WSJ. Magazine.

Massimiliano Locatelli was searching for a new home for his architecture firm when he came upon a glorious 16th Century church in Milan. The “Firm in the Church” – a project created by the architects from CLS architetti at the end of 2014, is a structure located inside the church of San Paolo Converso on Corso Venezia. The church, dating back to the 16th century and decorated with fresco paintings by the Campi brothers, is divided in a front church and a rear church. The front church is open to the public and consists of a single chamber with an entirely decorated barrel vault and side chapels, at the centre of which rises the altar. The rear church is reserved to the cloistered nuns of the adjacent convent.

The reception is located at the entrance of the front church, the library in the altar area, and a first meeting room in the area connecting the two churches. The partners of the firm decided to make the front church a place dedicated to creative disciplines, where international guests can organise their exhibitions, performances, and installations open to the public. (Just like this event we shared with you here.)

Photography © François Halard for WSJ. Magazine.

A four-floor steel structure built in the rear section houses the offices and the various planning areas. All this without affecting the original construction in any way. A steel staircase connects the floors crossing the entire length of the parallelepiped structure. The last floor houses the partners’ offices and the meeting room, which protrudes over the front part through the lunette, thereby dominating the entire space with a unique view.

The steel structure is open on all sides, thereby allowing one to admire the frescoes from different levels. The library, model lab, and the kitchen are located in the vaulted crypt, which features a double row of four columns. The entire project is made of natural black tubular steel, with cross-section repeated in different scales both in the construction of the load-bearing structure and in the furniture, such as the desks and bookcases designed for this space. The lighting is the result of a light engineering study carried out together with Flos – tailor-made hand blown neon lights attach directly to the structure.

FAR. OUT!

Above images courtesy of CLS Architetti.

[Images courtesy of CLS Architetti. Photography © François Halard for WSJ. Magazine.]