Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A.

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena is the oldest bank in the world. Their head office is in Italy’s Siena, but their London office was relocating and they asked us to help with the design and fit out.

So that there wasn’t a language barrier, we put a manager on the project who is fluent in Italian. He worked with the bank’s Italian in-house designer from the very start of the project, to make sure none of their requirements were lost in translation.

One of the bank’s requests was that their Italian heritage be reflected in their new environment. So, alongside modern features like glass walls and bright, open spaces, we used the warm red and orange colours of Tuscany throughout. And for the floors in the corridors, we imported marble and granite all the way from a quarry near the bank’s home in Siena.