Designed in 1961 by Antonio Cassi Ramelli and Giovanni Dozzo, the building at Via Mercanti 21 is part of the larger complex of the former Generali headquarters, between Palazzo Venezia (by Luca Beltrami) and the fifteenth-century Casa dei Penigarola (designed by Giovanni Solari in 1466 and restored by Luca Beltrami in 1899, when it was merged with Palazzo Venezia). These two buildings were added with the former Guenzati house, which was then demolished - in an urgent need for new office spaces - to make way for the new building now restored. The latter is grafted onto the walls of the two adjacent buildings, forming a single organism, and is articulated around a central courtyard and with five floors above ground, and a basement. A with a shopping gallery accessible from Via Mercanti and Via Orefici used to pass through the ground floor, dividing it in multiple retail stores.
The load-bearing structure, based on a grid of pillars and made of reinforced concrete with brick-cement floors, is flanked by extensions in concrete and steel. The perimeter walls are in solid and perforated bricks, and are aligned to form an air chamber of variable width. The street fronts are opened by a dense order of vertical windows, very recessed and marked by an upper vault, while the finishes are in Montorfano granite slabs, with crowning and other inserts in artificial stone. A first renovation operation, followed by Cibic Workshop and Atelier Verticale Architetti, involved the complete recovery of the structure, with a total redesign of the interior spaces, the total elimination of the shopping mall and the partial closure of the central courtyard, now placed at the service of the floors intended for retail. In addition to the redistribution of the spaces and the verification or addition of the necessary structures, the design required a preparation of systems, new fixtures, and new technological equipment for the entire building. Therefore, it was necessary to carry out a complete plant design for the whole building, covering all categories of systems, being also planned for future different uses. New arrangement of sanitary and wastewater services, with new thermal load and the new use of the retail spaces, the future use of offices and a sky-bar.
This led to the construction of technical equipment and rooms to guarantee efficiency, autonomy and stability to this portion of the building complex. A dedicated MV-LV transformer substation is installed and capable of supporting the new electrical load expected. The installed brand-new technologies include VMC systems to integrate the natural ventilation guaranteed by the new fixtures, an autonomous thermal power plant, a sophisticated fire-fighting system and a plant network designed for the highest possible efficiency. Each plant system, although centralized, is designed for the greatest possible flexibility with the possibility of compartmentalization between each of the three Retail floors (basement, ground and first), the offices and the future sky bar, but also within the macro-areas themselves, allowing additional partitions, with relative independent accesses. In fact, the three retail floors are designed for at least three different subdivisions with as many separate entrances. This is possible thanks to the new greenhouse that closes the internal courtyard by expanding the surfaces and the elimination of the old shopping mall, thus obtaining three fronts with separate entrances: Piazza Mercanti, Via Mercanti 21 and Via Orefici.
Following the occupation of the spaces by the END group. Clothing, a fit-out operation was conducted on the basement, first and second, intended for a single store for a total area of 1600 m². The establishment of the clothing chain and the new preparation and finishing of the spaces required a new definitive and executive design of the systems adapted to the new interior project, prepared by Brinkworth according to the international retail identity of the chain.