Almares Building / Reinach Mendonça Arquitetos Associados

Architects: Reinach Mendonça Arquitetos Associados
Location: Santos – São Paulo, Brazil
Authors: Reinach, Maurício Mendonça
Area: 4481.0 m2
Project Year: 2016

Collaborators: Tony Chen, Victor Gonçalves, Camila Osele, Taís Vieira, Luena Vettorazzo, Raquel Gonçalves, Silvia Mori, Venâncio Alves, Flávia Henriques, Manuel Tojal, Guilherme Nakata, Lucas Ferreira, Lucas Pohl, Alessandra Musto.
Lightning: Franco + Fortes Lighting Design
Electric Installations: Rasmoska Castellani
Hydraulic Installations: Rasmoska Castellani Paisagismo: Barbieri + Gorski Arquitetos Associados
Structure: Campanhia de Projetos
Construction: Construtora CPD

Text description provided by the architects. A building constructed in 1970 decade was disable because of its inappropriate preservation. A completely renovation and a modern design were requested to follow the city revitalization.

The goal was a renovation of the building as well as of the surroundings, thus the sidewalks were enlarged and a new street paving was made.

Moreover, a new attached site was acquired so that a parking lot could be located.

The ground floor, previously closed and turned to indoors, is now open and facing the street. It also hosts an art gallery and a café – both surrounded by a large water mirror – attracting the outside pedestrians to enter.

The roof top floor, that was earlier only a technical slab, was turned into a collective living space and a city lookout along with an auditorium and an event space. Apart from the new uses of the public areas, the main proposal was creating a metallic sunscreen panel, that completely covers the west façade and goes until the top, becoming a generous pergola. The existing mosaic tile coating remained, but with a new layout andcovered with a secondary metallic skin.