CB OFFICE

Motivated by the issues raised by the pandemic and the constant reflections on what the ideal workspace would be like for the new dynamics, the leaders of this international law firm brought to Bernardes Arquitetura with the desire to rethink the project for its headquarters in São Paulo, now at a new address.

Faced with the scenario crossed over the course of the quarantine, especially after the intersection between personal and professional life, which made the importance of the quality of workspaces evident, one of the main concerns presented by customers was how to translate the company’s philosophy into space, promoting constant exchanges between the team. The new office – developed especially for the return of face to face activities – was designed considering three key points: collaboration, well-being, and technology as a facilitating tool.

Emphasizing the welcoming atmosphere in the employees’ daily lives, even though it is a commercial space, we work with solutions that evoke the atmosphere found in residential projects developed by Bernardes: wide and integrated spaces, light, use of natural materials, and the constant presence of green.

With an area of 3,140 square meters in two floors, for greater convenience, the program was distributed with the service and meeting spaces on the first floor (10th floor), while the work and support areas are located on the upper floor (11th floor).

In the basement, wood is the main material, present in the panels, ceilings, window frames and furniture, while the floor is covered with large stone slabs.

Welcoming customers, at the main entrance, the circulation gallery is surrounded by a generous bookcase that crosses the entire space and accommodates the large collection of books, as well as artworks. To give a more intimate character, small lounges – with armchairs by Brazilian designers – distributed throughout this space suggest areas for conviviality and for quick meetings. In the background, pivoting wooden panels – which can be opened, revealing the circulation, or completely closed, like a wall – protect the expresso bar – an area developed as a lounge for meals or even as an environment for less formal meetings with clients.

The entrance for exclusive access to lawyers is made up of flexible furniture that suggests spaces for reading and conversation, encouraging greater interaction.

With a sculptural character, the staircase was arranged in the central region, connecting the two floors, but allowing for a certain visual connection. Embracing its structure, the flowerbed brings green to the interior. Meanwhile, the meeting rooms are arranged in front of the skyline, which follow freer designs by deviating from the staircase from the chamfered edge that has its apexes slightly curved, a solution that gives dynamism to the layout. With glass enclosures and wood-finished frames, each room has linen perimeter curtains that can be closed during meetings for greater convenience.

In furniture, to accommodate the largest number of people, while allowing everyone to be closer together, the tables specially designed by our interior team follow a triangular design with gently rounded apexes. Under the glass walls of the building, planters delineate the facade with the presence of the landscaping, while the sofa that crosses its length was thought to support meetings with a larger number of people and/or more casual ones.

With the motto of collaboration, on the upper floor, the old workspace, quite sectioned, now gives way to linear workstations, so that there is a greater number of seats and constant exchanges between professionals. At the edge of the entire facade, planters are installed along with long upholstered furniture and wooden tables, offering greater well-being and support for informal meetings.

Also concentrated on this floor are rooms for professionals who require private spaces; in addition to booths for online calls, designed with acoustic solutions to meet the growing dynamics of virtual meetings after the lockdown period. In total, on the two floors, we have 30 rooms for directors, 5 phone booths, 7 meeting rooms for clients and 2 internal meeting rooms.

While respecting the seriousness suggested by a law firm, the proposal seeks to reinterpret formality, and valuing the human experience. Sprinkling the base with natural materials (wood, stone, straw and mineral paint) we add color points to the upholstery fabrics, which make them welcoming, but also energizing.

Based on its broad expertise in the development of corporate projects, in this office we worked together with the team of specialists from Athié Wohnrath, who defined the technical organization chart and served as a compass for the arrangement of flows and spaces proposed in the concept developed by Bernardes. A|W also prepared the design of building and technological systems, in addition to the entire execution of the work.

LZM APT

MKT APT

Originally with a very segmented plan and a certain lack of natural lighting, the renovation project of this apartment in the Rio de Janeiro sought to unite its spaces, while maximizing its openings.

In order to ensure greater use and integration of the spaces, the perimeter of the existing balcony received an expansion of the coverage, while the boundary walls between the internal and external space were removed, giving rise to the large living room, in turn connected to the kitchen, office and a small terrace.

To make better use of natural lighting, architectural strategies were defined along with the renovation, such as the adoption of new glass frames on the main facade; openings along other surfaces; and skylight in the new metal roof. These changes made it possible for there to also be greater benefit from ventilation, directly impacting the thermal quality of the interior.

Materially, the project was designed trying to bring different nuances and natural textures. The two central pillars that divide the living room were kept in exposed concrete, while the entire floor received wooden boards, and the lining was partially made of wooden rulers.

In the living room, the long sofa over 8 meters lenght runs all the space, suggesting moments of conversation. In furniture, pieces that evoke the Brazilianness of modern national design were categorically chosen, such as the Mole armchairs by Sérgio Rodrigues, Bordadeira Girafa chair by Lina Bo Bardi, and a pair of Lenço coffee tables designed by Jorge Zalszupin, in harmony with the artisanal ones, such as the Xingu benches and straw basketwork.

To accommodate the collection of books and objects, the linear shelf runs along the entire edge, sometimes as a storage area, sometimes as an exhibitor, up to the toilet, where the corian tub follows the same modulation and mimics the finish applied to the joinery.

Taking advantage of the position of the two central pillars, it was decided to re-signify the role assumed in the space, transforming them into structural elements for the two tables, the first being for dinner (1.80×1.80 meters) and the second as support to the work area (with 1.80×1.00 meters), which appearing to float by the space, from its the metallic strap system, responsible by supporting a beam and plate of the same material, from which the freijó wood base massive is arranged. In composition, straw chairs designed by Sergio Rodrigues and Maru pendant, by Ingo Maurer. At the table opposite, chairs by Martin Eisler.

Visually connecting the different spaces and enabling functionality, the kitchen was opened to the dining room, but with the possibility of being completely closed, from the retraction of the sliding panel, which becomes a wall to support to artworks.

The small access balcony to the upper terrace gained a vertical garden, from where a small opening emerges framing the landscape. Two Loop armchairs, designed by Willy Guhl, make up the circulation.

As in the social area, in the bedrooms, there was the introduction of new frames and from where a system of horizontal louvers was installed, contributing to the exchange of air.

Bringing visual identity to the bathrooms, hydraulic tiles cover the surfaces of the walls, which have their colors highlighted by the zenithal lighting

MLT HOUSE

RMA HOUSE

As a refuge a few kilometers from the capital of São Paulo, the project for this summer residence in the coastal region was designed seeking to promote greater privacy and enjoy its spaces. Influenced by the geographical conditions of the lot, the L-shaped design implantation provides a central patio that benefits its interiors from the best use of natural lighting and ventilation. In the center, the garden, solarium and swimming pool are accommodated, favored by the solar orientation.

Under the sloping roof, the program is distributed based on a clear sectorization: in the north-south direction of the ground floor is accommodated the double-height living room; while in the opposite volume, perpendicular to the living and dining rooms, are the service spaces – kitchen, laundry, toilet, and three guest suites, with openings in the east-west direction. This volume is entirely covered by wooden panels, which mimics the access doors and pivoting louvers of the guest suites’ bathrooms.

A granite staircase that cuts through the service volume, connects the two floors. On the upper floor is the family room, open to the living room, and three suites overlooking the main garden.

Structurally materialized in steel, in this residence we prioritize integration and thermal comfort through design decisions such as: adoption of large glass frames for transparency and constant exchange of air; permeability of the enclosures – wooden lattice panels that attenuate sunlight along the entire circulation gallery; louvers on the front of the rooms; in addition to the continuity of the floor in all environments.

The interiors seek to translate the concepts of cozy and lightness. In the living room, although with modest spans and double height ceilings, the constant presence of wood – in the panels and ceiling – visually warms the space, while creating a more palatable scale for residents. The floor and volume of the fireplace has its surfaces covered in Branco Siena granite. The furniture includes linen upholstery, design pieces (such as the Mandacaru armchair, by Baba Vaccaro, and John Graz armchair, by the designer of the same name), and others by the Bernardes Arquitetura team especially for the project, such as coffee tables with hydraulic tiles on top. The composition also receives handcrafted elements. At dinner room, the wooden table is made up of Rio chairs, by Carlos Motta, and a stone sideboard developed by Bernardes interior design team.

In this space, the wooden louvers are positioned only in the lower area of the north facade, choreographing the light that enters the space. The glazing can be completely retracted on both facades, allowing for cross ventilation.

From the mezzanine, the layout of the lounge space facing the living room, added to the strategic inclination of the roof and glass closures in the upper portion of the three facades, directs the residents’ view to the surrounding forest that embraces the residence. The home theater is oriented in the opposite direction, which is protected from light by an system of closing the side facade with zigzag panels, so that on each of the alternate sides, slender openings in sheets of glass are applied, preserving the control of light entry, but allowing air circulation.

The material palette of the bedrooms follows that applied in the other environments, prevailing the use of wood – lining, panels, furniture and accessories. Bathrooms can be integrated into the rest of the room through pivoting louvers that offer an inside-out view.

In the garden, the perimeter of the pool is defined by curved lines that refer to the natural ones. On the edges and walkable areas, irregular stone slabs are juxtaposed, surrounded by the tropicality of the landscaping signed in partnership with Jundu Paisagismo.

MLC HOUSE

Located on a rectangular perimeter lot in a predominantly residential neighborhood in São Paulo, the main intention of MLC House was to embrace the green, in addition to diluting the notions between inside and outside, creating a generous living area.

With that in mind, the project became an interesting challenge: to think about the architectural insertion of a typically urban residence, where the integration between the built space and the new landscaping would play a fundamental role in the conformation of a new panoramic, since the land lacked privileged views. It was therefore decided to position the new garden at the north end, where the views from the social spaces and suites would be directed.

As a structuring element and assuming a fundamental role in the organization of the plan and from which the entire program unfolds, two concrete gables were created, cutting the lot in the longitudinal direction, which in turn separates the pedestrian entrance from the garage; and social area of service spaces.

The house is raised a few centimeters from the street level, from where a staircase is created, integrated to the garden of tropical species, signed in partnership with Cenário Paisagismo. The largest concrete gable that cuts through the main volume has a cantilevered front end, reinforcing the idea of lightness to the whole.

Supported on the concrete foundation, the upper volume is built in a metallic structure, composed externally by a set of different layers responsible for filtering natural light and bringing the vegetation to the interior. The outer layer is composed of a diagonal grid made of Itaúba wood, which serves as a brise-soleil; followed by landscaping in perimeter planters; and finally, aluminum frames and floor-to-ceiling glass.

Bringing the desired permeability, the living room is completely integrated into the garden when the frames on three of its sides are retracted, referring to the idea of a large balcony. The strategic arrangement favors the cross circulation of the winds.

To bring the cozy mood added to the natural atmosphere, the material palette of the social spaces was rigorously designed to create a harmonious foundation for the interiors: apparent steel and reinforced concrete structure; tiled floor, and wooden plank lining.

In furniture, a mixture of pieces prevails (from family collection; Brazilian designers; and pieces in solid wood). Across the living room, a sideboard with an iron structure and wooden bases – referring to the materiality of architecture – accommodates pieces of art and decorative objects. In the composition, we highlight the ZC1 sofa (original from 1950 and reissued in 2019) by Zanine Caldas, and the Janete side table, designed by Sergio Rodrigues.

In the dining room, the raw wood table is composed of a set of Lucio chairs, designed by Sergio Rodrigues. Above, the seed pendant, was specially developed for the project by the Bernardes Arquitetura team.

The main vertical circulation is carried out through a staircase with concrete steps and a steel substructure embedded in the concrete wall, connecting the different floors. Above this, a generous skylight brings permanent light during the day. The guardrail is made of steel sheets with a white paint finish.

On the sides of the circulation on the first floor, freijó wood panels camouflage the access doors to the bedrooms and support closets. In this space is arranged the intimate family room. In addition, an internal garden reinforces the relationship to that positioned on the perimeter of the upper volume. Wooden demolition boards cover the surface of the entire floor of the circulation and bedrooms, with the exception of the bathrooms, which receive a wooden deck.

In the suites, the idea of tropicality is achieved from the green that enters – physically and visually – the space in two moments: through the planter in the edge of the facade, and through the massive canopy of trees in the background. The wooden skin that envelops the exterior allows strategic views in the rest spaces, while protecting the interior.