Tvornica sapuna Levi & Bianchi s radom započinje u drugoj polovici 19. stoljeća. Pogon je izgrađen na građevinskom terenu Bruni, a jedan od objekata kompleksa sačuvan je do danas i nalazi se u Vodovodnoj ulici na broju 39. Tvornica je djelovala nekoliko desetljeća pa nije čudno što je imala više faza izgradnje, od 80-ih godina 19. stoljeća do čak 1938. kada su napravljene posljednje preinake. Riječ je o cijelom kompleksu smještenom na samome kraju Vodovodne ulice, na platou podno stijena Kalvarijskog brijega pa sve do cestovnog prolaza, nekadašnje Vie dei Molini, uza samu Rječinu. Najstariji nacrti, pohranjeni u Državnom arhivu u Rijeci, datiraju iz veljače 1899., a potpisao ih je arhitekt Franjo Šikić.
Dogradnja tvornice nastavlja se 1905. kada se gradi građevina u kojoj je bio smješten parni kotao. Za ovaj je projekt bio angažiran arhitekt Giovanni Rubinich. U arhivskim izvorima nije istaknuta lokacija građevine pa se postavlja pitanje je li Rubinichev projekt ikada bio realiziran. Velik zahvat na tvornici izveden je 20-ih godina 20. stoljeća kada tvornica, tada u vlasništvu Silvija Silvianija, dobiva prepoznatljiv naziv Fabbrica Fiumana di Saponi, Glicerina, Soda cristallizzata e prodotti Grassi. Građevinski radovi na izgradnji novoga krila izvedeni su prema projektu Lugija Luppisa.
Tvornički kompleks Levi & Bianchi sastojao se od niza industrijskih i stambenih građevina. Do danas je ostalo sačuvano vrlo malo nekadašnjeg postrojenja. U najprepoznatljivijem, ali i vrlo derutnom dijelu kompleksa danas djeluje Ljevaonica metala Ardens d.o.o. Riječ je o zaštićenom spomeniku kulture koji je u službenim bilješkama Konzervatorskog odjela u Rijeci okarakteriziran kao građevina u vrlo lošem stanju. To je longitudinalna jednokatnica prepoznatljivih historicističkih elemenata. Pretpostavlja se da su na toj poziciji izvorno postojale dvije građevine koje su tek naknadno međusobno spojene. Takvu je pretpostavku moguće iščitati iz oblikovanja samog pročelja zgrada koje gledaju na Vodovodnu ulicu. Jasno je vidljiv dekor starijeg dijela zgrade, koji je raščlanjen nizom velikih prozorskih otvora s ciglastim polukružnim zabatom i naglašenim centralnim zaglavnim kamenom. Dinamika tog dijela pročelja postiže se ciglenim pilastrima smještenima između prozora, što daje vertikalnu dimenziju niskoj jednokatnici. Vjerojatno je to najstariji dio kompleksa koji je 1899. projektirao Franjo Šikić. Drugi dio pročelja projektiran je naknadno, 1925. godine, prema planu inženjera Luigija Luppisa. Prema sačuvanim nacrtima, ova je građevina trebala biti reprezentativna dvokatnica s prizemljem. Budući da se danas na tom mjestu nalazi samo prizemnica, vjerojatno projekt nikad nije bio potpuno realiziran ili su dva gornja kata bila izgrađena, ali naknadno uklonjena. Sigurno je, a što se iz samih nacrta može zaključiti, da je ovaj dio zgrade bio zamišljen kao arhitektonski nastavak već postojećeg dijela tvornice. To se očituje i u samoj dekoraciji pročelja koja je u novijem dijelu jednostavnija, ali stilski usklađena s postojećim Šikićevim historicističkim elementima.
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The Levi & Bianchi Soap Factory started with production in the second half of the 19th century. The plant was built on the Bruni building ground. One of the complex facilities has been preserved to this day and is located at Vodovodna Street no. 39. The factory operated for several decades; hence, it is no surprise that it had several phases of construction from the 1880s up to 1938, when the last modifications were made. This was an entire complex, located at the end of Vodovodna Street on a plateau beneath the Kalvarija hill, stretching all the way to the road passage, the former Via dei Molini, next to the Rječina river. The oldest drafts, stored in the State Archives in Rijeka, date back to February 1899, and were signed by the architect Šikić.
The upgrade of the factory continued in 1905, when the steam boiler facility was built. The architect Giovanni Rubinich was hired for this project. Archival sources never emphasized the location of the building, so the question is whether Rubinich’s project had ever actually been implemented. A great intervention on the factory complex was made in the 1920s, when the factory, then owned by Silvio Silviani, got the distinctive name Fabbrica Fiumana di Saponi, Glicerina, Soda cristallizzata e prodotti Grassi. Construction works on the new wing were carried out according to the project of Luigi Luppis.
The Levi & Bianchi factory complex consisted of a series of buildings of industrial and residential character. To date, very little has been preserved from the former plant facilities. The Metal Foundry Ardens d.o.o. is now operating in the most recognizable, but also dilapidated part of the complex. This object is considered as cultural heritage and, in official documents of the Conservationand Restoration Department of Rijeka, it is characterised as a building in very poor condition. It is a longitudinal two-storey building with recognizable historicist elements. It is safe to assume that originally there were two buildings, which were later interconnected. Such an assumption can be made owing to the design of the façades of the buildings facing Vodovodna Street. The decor of the older part of the building is clearly visible; it is divided by a series of large windows with semi-circular brick gables and a prominent central keystone. The dynamics of this part of the façade is achieved by brick pilasters placed between the windows and giving a vertical dimension to this low-storey building. This is probably the oldest part of the complex, designed by Franjo Šikić in 1899. The second part of the façade was designed later, in 1925, according to the plans of engineer Luigi Luppis. The preserved drafts indicate that this facility should have been a representative three-storey house with a ground floor. Given that today, on this location, there is only a single-storey house, it is likely that the project was never fully realized or that the two upper floors were built, but later removed. What is certain and visible from the drafts is that this part of the building was conceived as an architectural continuation of the existing part of the factory. This is reflected in the decoration of the façade, which is simpler, yet stylistically coordinated with the existing historicist elements by Šikić.
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