Located in São Paulo’s Pompeia neighbourhood, the Botaní Building, designed by Fernandes Arquitetos Associados, brings residential, commercial, and workplace functions together within a single development. Its location close to shops, educational facilities, and leisure destinations provides access to everyday amenities within the surrounding neighbourhood.
The development comprises a 28-storey residential main block alongside a six-storey office block containing commercial units. Residential units and non-residential studios are complemented by an active retail frontage, helping maintain activity at street level throughout the day.
Shading and energy
Influenced by Brutalist architecture, the main block is characterised by exposed reinforced-concrete structures and is set back from the pavement. In front, the smaller office block reduces the scale of the development towards the street. Elevated on four columns, the volume incorporates timber sunshades that provide solar protection while giving the façade a contrasting material character.
Environmental measures are integrated into the architecture. At the top of the main block, an inclined architectural element forms the roof of two duplex residences while supporting part of the building’s solar-panel array. Metal pergolas provide further shading to outdoor spaces. LED lamps and luminaires are used throughout the residential, office, and shared areas to reduce electricity demand for artificial lighting.
Landscape and outdoor amenity
Planting is distributed across several levels of the development. A large residential leisure deck on the second floor combines gardens with swimming pools, a sand court, and an outdoor lounge beneath a metal pergola. These facilities provide spaces for recreation and outdoor activity.
At ground level, landscaping also contributes to the relationship between the development and Avenida Pompeia. An urban garden beneath the office block extends towards the pavement and can be used by pedestrians, creating a publicly accessible landscaped threshold rather than a closed residential entrance.
Supporting everyday life
Botaní incorporates communal spaces for coworking, exercise, relaxation, family activities, and larger social gatherings. Combining these functions with housing, offices, and retail brings different aspects of everyday urban life together within the development. Its sustainability approach encompasses both environmental and urban strategies. Timber solar shading, photovoltaic panels, and energy-efficient LED lighting address solar exposure and operational energy use, while planted communal areas introduce greenery and outdoor amenity into the dense development.
