Daimler Mercedes Benz

Héctor Armando Herrera

• Architects

In this project the requirements for the five business units, distributed in 10 levels, were approached avoiding making each one completely different, achieving a balance between the open spaces, the collaborative ones and the services. Key points were defined in each floor, always in the same spot, and only the appropriate adjustments for the closed spaces used for meetings, collaboration and reserved offices were done.

photo_credit Héctor Armando Herrera — Héctor Armando Herrera

The project was developed in Torre III of Down Town Santa Fe complex occupying a 12,550 sq m area distributed among 10 floors, that have irregular shape with diagonal ledges that frame the exterior views, like the one towards the La Mexicana park in the south or the one to Avenue Santa Fe in the west.

Until a few years ago, it was common to place the services (such as printing, beverages or recycling stations, etc.) close to the working stations, today we are going the other way. In our experience it is vital for people to stand up from their desks and walk inside the office, promoting interaction among the users. To make this goal it was necessary to add an important structural challenge to the project: perforating 8 post-tensioned slabs reinforcing them with steel beams in order to develop the stairs that intercommunicate the different levels, and business units, to prevent the use of the elevator.

Another one of the clients’ requirements was that the project had to follow Daimler´s global image, but it also had to use materials or details that refer to the country where it is located. In order to achieve this, we focused in the combination of materials such as stainless steel and glass that we contrasted with a rough and porous finish stone such as flamed granite, attaining accents in the steps and the grand tables for the casual meetings.

The finishes selection is neutral for the walls, plafonds and floors; the general areas are covered with carpet in grey shades with a pattern resembling wood´s lichen and has discrete color accents. For the main circulation an oak color vinyl floor was selected and for the beverages stations a bright black ceramic.