Future, innovation and sustainability inspire mw.arq | moema wertheimer in the creation of the Comgás project in São Paulo 

Project commemorates the company's 150th anniversary, earns LEED Gold certification and represents a repositioning of the organization in the market.  

In celebration of Comgás' 150th anniversary, the office mw.arq I moema wertheimer was responsible for developing two new simultaneous projects for the company, one in São Paulo and the other in Campinas.   
The programs for both headquarters were defined separately so that they would be functional for the different natures of the facilities in each location - in São Paulo, it was to accommodate the administrative core - but with a language that translated the company's culture through architecture.  
At the time of the development of the São Paulo hub project, Comgás was going through a transition phase, leaving the historic building at the gasometer, in its former operational base in the Brás neighborhood, and moving to a property on Avenida Faria Lima, the capital's financial center.  

In this context, one of the biggest challenges encountered was to tell a 150-year-old story, above all respecting the past, but with the main focus on transmitting culture, celebrating history, innovation and the future.  
Inspired by the urban context, where the company operates mainly, the architecture also brought as main characteristics the biophilic traces with counterpoints of urban context, graffiti, vegetation, pulsating and cheerful colors.   
To tell this story, the layout was developed from "squares", from the city of tomorrow. It was decided to divide the spaces by avenues (the circulations) that joined the larger collaborative squares with different uses. Along these avenues were also positioned the various uses of the office, such as the focus zones, staff and meeting rooms. 

In this journey, materials and layouts were used that simulated the urban and technological context in which Comgás is inserted. The illustrations applied follow the urban theme, with lampposts, telling a little of the history of the luminaires of downtown São Paulo, carpet floors with cobblestone themes and lambe-lambe on the walls. In addition to the white brick walls, referencing the historic gasometer buildings, glass to offer greater flexibility for collaborations and blue cellulose lining, with the premise of improving acoustic performance and indicating the blue sky of an open environment, are present in the finishes.

Internally, the new São Paulo headquarters became known as "renova", as it represents, in addition to the company's change, its repositioning in the market. The new hub also received LEED Gold certification, which aims to encourage and accelerate the adoption of sustainable building practices. As an example, the use of democratic and accessible natural lighting for all employees - this was one of the criteria for obtaining certification. For the architects, more important than telling the story, was to show the future towards which Comgás is moving, of innovation, sustainability and technology. For this, a lot of biophilia was used in the design of the mood.

Team:
Architect: mw.arq I moema wertheimer 
Builder: Saeng Engenharia  
Photography: Evelyn Müller

Material Used:
1. carpets: Interface  
2. Furniture: Alberflex   
3. Lighting: Flow lighting
4. Vinyl 1st floor  
5. Glass partitions: Marcetex 
6. AV equipment: Absolut