Amir Hamzah Azizan joined the Mayors of Turin, Villastellone and Santena at a ceremony to lay the foundation stone of Petronas’ Centre for Research and Technological Development, which will be completed by the end of 2017.

The £40 million facility, located in Santena near Turin in northern Italy, was designed out of the UK Reading studio and is being delivered in partnership with Italian practice 967 Associates Architects and F&M Engineering. The 17,000 sqm technology centre will be equipped with advanced laboratories, equipment and facilities to develop lubricants for both the domestic car and motor racing in which it supplies Mercedes AMG Petronas, the current Formula 1 World Champions.

Broadway Malyan secured the project after winning an international competition and the architectural design of the external envelope was inspired by the Alpine landscape and the surrounding agricultural field pattern with their linear coloured banding. Internally the layout delivers a structure that encourages greater collaboration between Petronas’ scientists, technicians and other office staff whilst showcasing the innovation of Petronas’ downstream business division.

David Anderson, who led the design team at Broadway Malyan, said: “This is a truly world-class facility for an industry-leading corporation so it is incredibly exciting to see the project taking another step towards fruition.

“This was a highly complex and technical project that demanded significant input from across the practice and allowed us to showcase our R+D design expertise in this increasingly important sector for Broadway Malyan.”