n industrial shell with style.’ That’s what
British designer Neil Barrett was looking for when
he needed a new headquarters. He set up his namesake
label at the turn of the millennium, after almost
a decade working for Italian megabrands Gucci and
Prada, and he initially bought a small studio big enough
for a team of five. But, by the end of 2016, he was
heading up a global fashion brand with a staff of more
than 80, who found themselves spread across seven
different buildings on Via Savona, in south west Milan.
It was time to find bigger quarters.
Barrett found his industrial shell with style in
a former power plant on Milan’s Via Ceresio. It then
took two years for architects Barbara Ghidoni, Marco
Donati and Michele Pasini – of Storage Associati –
to turn this 538,200 sq ft building into an HQ. Its vast,
white foyer debuted as the backdrop to Barrett’s
S/S18 joint menswear and womenswear show last June.
The architects’ brief was to create something that
was clean but with warmth – not a stagnant monument
to minimalism, but a space in constant motion.
Here, Barrett and his team work on a ceaseless flow
of collections that takes in menswear and womenswear,
sportswear, ski and gym clothes, plus a newly
launched childrenswear line, as well as retail concepts
and operations. Nothing sits still.
The architects used the foundations of the power
plant like a skeleton, placing a number of boxes within
it. Both sides are flooded with natural light, thanks
to glazed façades – the original wooden frames have
been remodelled in black aluminium. Across two large
floors stand banks of glass-panelled offices, set away
from the front windows; two cubed meeting rooms
with thick glass fronts hover on iron beams. Inside sit
curvaceous chairs and tables in exotic skins by Paris-
based husband and wife team Yiouri and Ria Augousti.
‘The concept was to create holes of light and
elements that give the feeling of graphic architecture,’
Pasini says. ‘It made sense to use fewer materials and
a reduced colour palette in a space that will change
over time.’ Strikingly, the edges of the colossal concrete
walls have a bumpy, artisanal grain, tempering the
building’s severity. ‘This is a space where the team will
work and the brand will develop, so we wanted to
create a kind of softness. The walls will age over time.
It’s like an architectural intervention,’ adds Pasini.
‘The larger studios can also be compartmentalised
depending on the workflow,’ he continues. With the
precision of an architect, Barrett subtly divides the
space while overseeing islands of activity. At the height
of the season, the design floor is sectioned off with
large moveable grey foam board, onto which research,
technical drawings and fabric swatches for each
category of the collection are pinned. ‘It’s about having
everything on show during the season so everyone can
be more autonomous,’ says Barrett.
Everything is kept within eyeshot. ‘I dislike having
to ask people for information, so I’d rather be able
to find it myself. And I find that works better for my
team, too, so you can actually apply what you have
in your mind to what you are doing.’
Fuss is kept well hidden. Fine slits that hover
underneath the ceiling conceal air-conditioning units.‘There are more windows than there are walls –
so the light brings the building to li fe’
ABOVE, IN THE MEETING
ROOMS AT NEIL BARRETT’S
NEW HQ ARE ARMCHAIRS,
‘PEACOCK’ SIDE TABLES
AND AN ‘EVA’ VASE BY RIA
AND YIOURI AUGOUSTIThe brand’s archives are stored inside deep cupboards
disguised as walls. Computer and phone cables are
sucked into the centre of desks and plugged directly
into custom-made boxes that cover sockets on the
floor. Wearers of Barrett’s tailored clothes come to him
for this very same restraint and rigour. ‘The concept
of hiding all the functions came from Neil’s attitude,’
Pasini says. ‘He likes to have everything clean.’
When designing, Barrett puts together tight colour
palettes and fabrications, editing as much as possible
down to the working essentials. The materials
used throughout his HQ reflect that, too – the graphic
shadows that trip across the walls and floors as the day
passes bring to mind one of Barrett’s iconic neoprene
sweaters or intarsia knits. ‘There are more windows
than there are walls – so the light brings the building
to life,’ Barrett says. ‘At any time of day, you can
look from any direction and you will find a beautiful
frame. The architects have translated my desire for
geometric perspectives, that irregular balance.’ ∂
neilbarrett.com; storageassociati.comA
110 ∑ PHOTOGRAPHY: PIOTR NIEPSUJ
Architecture