3T HOUSE
ASM APT
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