Coop Lombardia | Park Associati

Civic retail: a brand architecture project creating a new functional and formal ‘super-market’ model.

With Coop Lombardia, Park Associati is defining a new commercial model by designing the supermarket as a place of sale as well as a space for social gathering and knowledge exchange − a proper community hub. This is a transversal project that addresses architectural, commercial and social themes, connected to the brand’s values of the and its physical representation.

The locations where Coop has chosen to establish its points of sale reflect the company's attitude towards the community and the landscape with which it engages, consistently finding the most coherent architectural language and dialectic. Being recognised in the country as 'Coop' implies a responsibility in terms of presence and the role played in society and the territory.

Through the manipulation of design and architectural archetypes that have always belonged to the image of public buildings, using non-ephemeral materials and a contemporary compositional and formal language, Park Associati has designed a concept that outlines a new functional and formal model for the retail programme, named Civic Retail.

Each project operation is carefully integrated in a context and the community that inhabits it, aiming to set in motion osmotic processes that generate civic consciousness.

The supermarket building is generally characterised by its intrinsic simplicity, easy to replicate and build, sometimes becoming an introverted box with no architectural character.

The Coop concept envisages the box being hollowed out at the corners, corresponding to its entrances, and this subtraction of volume generates a greater degree of porosity and openness towards the outside.

The shed-style panelling on the building's roof lets the natural light into the retail space. The volumetrics have been split between a lower level and an upper level projecting over the entrance, which accentuates the plastic gesture of hollowing out the corners.

The Cesate supermarket is the first Coop project realised, completed at the end of 2023. The intervention goes beyond the architectural aspect, also extending to the design of the outdoor open space: the pedestrian edge is expanded to accommodate community meeting spaces, waiting areas, and play areas for children. The vegetation is integrated, serving as a background that completes the surrounding context.

Other supermarkets are being planned and implemented.

Viz: Park Associati

Photo Credits: Nicola Colella

Project: 2023
Realization: ongoing

Professional Services
Concept brand architecture
Architectural project
Art direction

Design team
Founding Partners: Filippo Pagliani, Michele Rossi
Project Director: Alessandro Rossi
Project Leaders: Francesco Garofoli
Landscape Director: Marianna Merisi
Product & Furniture Design Director: Marco Sorrentino
Architects: Francesco Caputo, Davide Cazzaniga, Daniele Ferrari,
Francesca Pellizzaro, Alessandra Peracin, Gianluca Ancora, Davide Caccia
Facade specialist: Enrico Sterle
Graphic designer: Caterina Aquili
Model maker: Federica Arici
Visualizers: Antonio Cavallo, Giulia Bartoli, Stefano Venegoni, Ida Jonassen