Restyling Based on Natural Light

By Editorial Staff - 2 October 2025
PROMO S.p.A. has participated in the project

Natural light drives the redesign of Fendi’s Milan headquarters on Via Solari, a project by the team at Politecnica that re-imagines the site’s red-brick façade and its industrial allure. The intervention introduces airy, contemporary structures and sweeping glass walls that flood the interiors with brightness, turning light into the project’s central theme. The design successfully bridges the site’s historic character with a forward-thinking spirit, staying true to Fendi’s core values. The fashion house inaugurated the space with its Fall/Winter 2025/26 runway shows last February. Today, the venue is the primary location for the Maison’s events and also home its offices and showroom. Every detail has been carefully choreographed, beginning at the entrance, where two theatrical costumes by Arnaldo Pomodoro – on loan from the Foundation that bears his name – greet guests with sculptural flair.

Ripartire dalla luce naturale © Fabrizio Carotti, courtesy Promo Spa

The work to modernize and revamp the building’s envelope – along with the creation of new structures, façades and interiors – relied heavily on the expertise of Promo, a firm specializing in technologies and systems for architecture. The key upgrades included new Schüco windows with motorized sashes being installed along the Via Solari façade, sleek metal canopies and, most notably, a comprehensive overhaul of the roof section. Here, the old shed windows were largely removed, leaving only a few, and replaced with a new curtain wall grid able to house polycarbonate cladding. To ensure complete darkness when needed, particularly for runway shows, internal roller shades were added to the shed windows. Inside, the layout was completely reimagined with numerous glazed partitions that make the interior spaces more open and functional. Highlights among the new additions are the Backstage Tower – separated from the show area by a glazed Schüco curtain wall system with visible mullions and transoms and linked to the former Herno offices by a new walkway – and the Pomodoro Tower, housing the production booth and supporting service areas. Promo was also responsible for creating the structures that define the new welcome area, which in turn leads both to the Labyrinth and the show space. Here, opaline honeycomb polycarbonate panels line the walls and ceiling, with integrated LED backlighting that creates a striking, immersive glow.

All of the new structures – roughly 280,000 Kg in total – were treated on site with fire-resistant coatings, while the existing ones were repainted, covering more than 10,000 sq. m of treated surfaces.

The redesign, centered on optimizing natural light, blends the raw character of industrial architecture with a contemporary approach to space.