Located in the heart of São Paulo, in the Vila Normanda Building, adjacent to one of São Paulo's most iconic architectural landmarks, the Copan, as well as other classics like the Terraço Itália and Praça da República, is the headquarters of the VAGA office, spanning 140 square meters. While the surroundings are filled with architectural classics, the goal of partners Pedro Domingues, Pedro Faria, and Fernando O'Leary was to restore and modernize a nearly abandoned commercial property without losing its original character, but rather integrating it into the new energy of the area, which has been undergoing revitalization both day and night, bringing a vibrant, youthful atmosphere that now flows through the buildings, bars, and businesses in the vicinity, clearly infusing fresh ideas into architecture.
Upon unveiling the original structure of the building, the space was divided into small rooms separated by partitions, with raised floors and gypsum ceilings. By removing these elements and revealing the ribbed slab, a single integrated space was created. Wet areas were also reconfigured to accommodate three bathrooms, a kitchenette, a new terrazzo floor was added, and an annex was transformed into a meeting room.
With a simple and minimalist concept, in line with the office's identity, which, with few interventions, brought a new look to the property, concrete remained present in the original building structure, creating an interesting contrast with the woodwork and the white terrazzo floor with brown chips.
During the process, the architects faced a significant challenge in revealing the existing ribbed slab, which contained the original woodwork from the 1970s construction. The solution was to remove all of this woodwork and restore specific strategic points of the existing steel frames.
A key highlight of the project is the view that was created after integrating the spaces near the front windows - facing Avenida Ipiranga - becoming a kind of "observatory" for the classic architectural surroundings. In addition to the techniques used to breathe new life into the space, "deconstructing" the old layout and creating a wide and open environment with endless possibilities for use and occupancy.
Another creative solution to work with low-cost materials and create a design piece that complements the atmosphere was the ceiling light fixtures, designed by the office itself, composed of galvanized market profiles attached to the back of the concrete ribbed slab, suspended by frosted glass that serves as a diffuser.
Landscaping was designed to soften the coldness and rationality conveyed by concrete, contributing to the creation of a more welcoming, pleasant atmosphere with just the right touch of coziness, along with the wood.
