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Architects: FGMF
- Area: 4474 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Fran Parente
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Manufacturers: Arkos, Atlas Schindler, Braston, Eliane, Hydro
Text description provided by the architects. With a challenging structure signed by FGMF, the Girassol Building was finished at the end of 2021 and is in Vila Madalena, a prime area of the capital of São Paulo. The corporate use project was developed to meet the market demand in this post-pandemic period for lighter, more welcoming workspaces, and the architecture is responsible for creating environments that promote well-being, satisfaction, and productivity.
"The concern to offer quality spaces is very latent in companies. The reduction of traditional, fixed stations and adherence to the remote format end up reducing human contact and the notion of belonging and this makes it difficult to transmit values to the team. Therefore, environments should encourage socialization and a sense of well-being, generating rapprochement between people to increase talent retention and the development of more creative and dynamic work, especially in the hybrid model. The staff needs to think that the office is an even cooler place than the house itself and feel comfortable there", explains Lourenço Gimenes, partner at FGMF.
Therefore, the architects created an unusual building, integrated into the urban environment, gentle with passers-by and comfortable for their direct users. Composed of five floors in mismatched volumes, the space carries a harmonic set of geometric angles that form terraces with unique qualities: some covered, others not, with varied sizes and high ceilings, different areas of permanence and access to external gardens. At the same time, this apparent disorganization of the volumes allows the reading of a less vertical object, more tied to the user's scale, friendly to those who walk on the street and see not only the ground floor garden, but also the floating green spaces in the urban landscape.
Respecting the best use of the topography of the land, the project has entrance for vehicles in the lower part of the land and welcomes pedestrians with a powerful entrance garden, which accommodates the difference in level in a delicate way. The ground floor allows to accommodate a store or a restaurant, has a privileged view by large windows that run through the main facade from floor to ceiling and allow contact with the external movement. On every floor, the natural lighting and the people circulation are privileged, with open access areas, small facades with green point on the sill, and large windows that surround the central building.
The highlight is the third pavement that appears defiantly balanced in a cantilever of 7m in metallic structure. Its polycarbonate coating gives it lightness and a dose of carelessness, contrasting with the apparent concrete of the other floors, solidly supported by each other. The thickness of the structural polycarbonate plates allows efficient thermal control throughout the day, besides highlighting the building by internal and external lighting at night, integrating it with the busy nightlife of the neighborhood. On the terraces, surrounded by a large garden overlooking Pinheiros, users can enjoy a covered area destined for a moment of casual coexistence.
