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Architects: GOAA - Gusmão Otero Arquitetos Associados, Goma Oficina
- Area: 3617 ft²
- Year: 2020
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Photographs:Paula Monroy
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Lead Architect: Beatriz Dias
Text description provided by the architects. Developed in partnership with GOMA Oficina Colaborativa, this project is a remodeling of a commercial complex to shelter the "Galpão Comum", an independent space dedicated to the practice and research on the city and image of latinamerican territory. Located on the ground floor of a residential building in the Santa Cecília neighborhood the space aims to hold a plurality of simultaneous activities. In order to do that, the project seeks to accommodate individual work to collective activities, open and closed meeting rooms, and indoor and outdoor relaxing areas, including a commercial point to activate the street facade.
To multiply the space and better accommodate all these activities a mezzanine was created taking advantage of the generous ceiling height. The ground floor accommodates the most collective spaces, starting with the commercial space next to the street until the collective pantry on the back of the property next to the outdoor courtyard. The upper floor holds the most reserved uses, such as the shared individual work desks and the closed meeting room.
The route through the office intersperses more compressed spaces with lower ceiling height under the mezzanine and expansion spaces with double ceiling height that allow debates and large objects exhibitions which are enlivened by the balconies of the mezzanine. The construction was designed with a light metallic structure typical of commercial mezzanines to avoid the need for reinforcement in the building's foundation and take full advantage of the ceiling height, which accommodates the edges of the two floors.
On the ground floor, the entire electrical and plumbing infrastructure, as well as the storage spaces, bathrooms, service area, and library, were installed on the largest side of the property, letting the rest of the area free for flexible occupation, in order to accommodate future and unforeseen new uses. The finishings between the metal structure were made of light drywall partitions and a variety of translucent glass to provide privacy and protect some uses of the intense movement without losing illumination.