Located at the intersection of Oscar Freire Street and Consolação Avenue in São Paulo, Allard Oscar Freire is a mixed-use development commissioned by Gafisa, with architectural design by Studio Arthur Casas. The 123-meter-tall tower houses residential units, a hotel, restaurants, wellness spaces, and retail areas, structured around a publicly accessible base and upper floors with a range of apartment typologies.
The building features a perimeter structure in textured concrete, framing large glass surfaces and supporting a continuous network of planters. These elements host permanent vegetation along the tower, forming a vertical forest that connects with the urban context and contributes to a local microclimate. The vegetation serves as a functional architectural component, regulating temperature, filtering noise, and ensuring visual privacy for the interiors.
The structural integration of greenery is guided by the concept of biophilia, understood as the innate human impulse to reconnect with nature. In this case, vegetation goes beyond landscape treatment and acts as integrated environmental infrastructure – a true urban forest, enhancing sensory experience and dissolving the boundaries between interior and exterior.
The first eight floors concentrate publicly accessible programs such as restaurants, shops, a café, a spa, and lounge areas, forming an active base that engages directly with the city. The upper levels host apartments of various sizes, with flexible layouts and spatial configurations oriented to maximize sunlight, cross ventilation, and open views. The building’s placement on the site was strategically designed to optimize solar exposure and visual connections to the urban surroundings.
Formally, Allard follows a rationalist architectural language, with clear geometry and controlled proportions. The façade avoids sculptural gestures and is organized through a Cartesian modulation in dialogue with the vegetation. Several architectural elements – such as handles, lighting fixtures, louvers, and furniture – were custom-designed for the project, crafted with artisanal execution and using exclusively Brazilian raw materials. The collaboration with the Ateliers de France contributed technical guidance and curatorial support to ensure precision and high-quality finishes.
Through this approach, Allard offers a new perspective on high-end residential architecture in the city. By combining precise construction techniques, passive comfort strategies, local materials, and permanent vegetation, the project embodies what its author defines as aesthetic sustainability – the appreciation of what is durable, well-resolved, and quietly integrated into the urban and temporal fabric.
