Rio de Janeiro

People/Products

It was while visiting Rio de Janeiro in 2007 to celebrate the 100th birthday of his friend Oscar Niemeyer that Richard Meier met the clients who would commission his first ever project in South America. Now, nine years later, with the completion of Leblon Offices, for Brazilian investment firm Vinci Partners, the Pritzker Prize–winning architect has delivered a sleek, sun-drenched building whose white aluminum-louvered facade perfectly captures the tony beachside ambience of its well-heeled Leblon neighborhood. At its rear, a concrete volume stands in dialogue with the best of Brazil’s modernist tradition.

The major challenge for the design team was to maximize a tight site in a densely occupied part of Rio, home to some of the country’s most expensive real estate, without sacrificing light. Many neighboring buildings, which only receive natural illumination through their front windows, are notorious for their gloomy rear interiors. The solution was to pull the building away from the site’s back party wall, where there is a small service volume that houses the elevators and stairs. The clever move allows daylight to bathe the rear of the main building, making the 70,000 square feet of mostly open-office workspace significantly more attractive. It also creates two internal courtyards on either side of a bridge that connects the seven-story building to the rear service component and gives it a permeable quality that captures the spirit of Rio’s outdoor ethos.

“The company is avant-garde in the way it does things,” says Meier. “They are very open and wanted a building that had the spirit where people communicate easily, where they are able to take an interest in each other’s work and improve their own. They wanted a building that facilitated this openness and communicated the transparency that they foster.”

The front, concrete-framed building is clad in white aluminum and a combination of transparent and translucent glass. This material treament contrasts with the beautifully raw, exposed concrete of the rear volume, which was inspired by the abundant use of high-quality concrete in Brazilian construction. Initially, the bridges connecting the two parts at each level were to be of glass in order to accentuate the permeability gained by opening up the back of the site. But that plan fell foul of Rio’s labyrinthine zoning and fire codes. Instead, they are made of concrete and clad in the same dark Brazilian granite found throughout the interiors, whose floor-to-ceiling glass provides generous views onto the courtyards. The walls of these protected spaces are shrouded by vertical gardens that echo the ever-present tropical vegetation found in the city beyond and make them welcoming spots in which to relax. The plantings, installed by specialists from São Paulo, also define a distinct transition between the aluminum-and-glass volume and the concrete one.

If refined concrete is the star of the rear of the building, the front facade’s louvers take credit for having a dramatic impact on Bartolomeu Mitre Avenue, one of the neighborhood’s main thoroughfares. They determine the public face of the building while creating privacy for its occupants and shading from Rio’s abundant sunshine. This urban gesture is further enhanced by a series of terraces, which allow for a direct connection between tenants and the street.

A double-height main lobby is integrated with the entrance to the building’s three-level subterranean garage, which makes for a practical if somewhat awkward introduction to the interior. But this leads to a more intimate second, ground-floor lobby and meeting space for anchor tenant Vinci Partners. Here Meier’s discreet, clean lines perfectly offset an elegant spiral staircase, which grants visitors access to meeting rooms on the floor above without having to return to the elevator bank in the main lobby.

The five top levels all employ the type of open floor plan favored by investment firms around the world, (with one level hosting perimeter executive suites enclosed in glass). As the entire main volume is supported on just four columns, each floor enjoys an expansive, uninterrupted sense of space. The open plan also provides the flexibility required by the client, which is leasing several floors to other boutique investment firms. From the elevators, visitors can access the main volume from the left or right, providing the potential for easy subdivision.

The building’s overall effect is a successful series of contrasts—between front and rear, aluminum and concrete, public and private—that are unified by a ferocious attention to detail, evidenced by such features as the beautifully lit back staircase. Here, in what would in many buildings be a little-used emergency fire escape, the exposed concrete walls are studded with glass tubes that let daylight from one of the courtyards penetrate the vertical circulation, transforming it into another social space. With the completion of Leblon Offices, Richard Meier has most sympathetically introduced his signature style to South America.


People

Architect:

Richard Meier & Partners Architects LLP
475 10th Avenue, 6th Floor
New York, New York 10018
Phone: 212 967-6060
Fax: 212 967-3207

Personnel in architect's firm who should receive special credit:

Managing Partner: Richard Meier, FAIA, FRIBA (Registered Architect)
Design Partner: Bernhard Karpf, AIA (Registered Architect)
Project Architects: Parsa Khalili and Anne Strüwing
Project Team: Brandt Knapp and Ian Lotto

Architect of record:

RAF Arquitetura

Interior designer:

RAF Arquitetura

Engineers:

Structural Consultant: Projest Consultoria e Projetos
Structural Verification: Bruno Contarine
MEP Consultant: Cemope Engenharia
HVAC Consultant: DW Engenharia

Consultants

Acoustical Consultant: Traço Verde
Foundation Consultant: Coenge Consultoria
Elevator Consultant: Alberto Cumplido de Santana
Special Systems Consultant: Bosco & Associados
Lighting Consultant: LD Studio
Façade Consultant: MN Consultores Associados Ltda.
LEED Consultant: Casa do Futuro
Waterproofing Consultant: GTI Engenharia Civil Impermeabilização Projetos Consultoria Patologia das edificações
Sunshading Consultant: NEO Design
Vertical Garden Consultant: Quadro Vivo
Construction Management: Classe A Engenharia e Planejamento
Signage: GHD | Graham Hanson Design

General contractor:

Construtora Santa Isabel

Photographer:

Roland Halbe 

Size:

75,700 square feet

Cost:

withheld

Completion date:

May 2016

Products

Structural System

-Prestressed slab
-Concrete columns

Exterior Cladding

Masonry: Architectural concrete

Metal/glass curtain wall: Clear glass, laminated glass 12mm

EIFS, ACM, or other: ACM 4mm Color Pure White – Alucomaxx

Curtain wall: Curtain Wall, stick frame system, powder-coated aluminum in white semi-Brilho - RAL 9010

Other cladding unique to this project: Unitized aluminum louvers as screen, powder-coated in white finish, semi-Brilho - RAL 9010

Roofing

Stone “white dolomita”

Windows

Metal frame: Powder-coated aluminum in white, semi-Brilho - RAL 9010

Glazing

Glass: Clear glass, laminated glass 12mm

Insulated-panel or plastic glazing:

Doors

Entrances: White Aluminium RAL 9010

Metal doors: White Aluminium RAL 9010

Wood doors: Wood/MDF painted white lacquer RAL 9016 (interior doors)

Sliding doors: Sliding door at main building entrance

Fire-control doors, security grilles: Handrail, stainless steel, brushed / Grille customized, White Steel RAL9010 / Fire-control door, White Steel RAL9010

Special doors: Turnstiles, glass & stainless steel, from KABA Charon

Interior Finishes

Acoustical ceilings: OWA acoustic panel premium - OWA PLAN - 1200x2400mm / OWA acoustic panel Bolero 62.5X62.5MM

Paints and stains: Coral

Special surfacing: White back-painted & transluzent glass panel wall main lobby, ground floor

Floor and wall tile: “Preto Extra Michelangelo” Sandblasted Granite, with water repellent sealer from Espirito Santo - Santa Leopoldina region

Resilient flooring: Raised Floor System - Tate

Raised flooring: Bathrooms in Corian white (walls and sinks)

Special interior finishes unique to this project: Bathrooms in Corian white (walls and sinks)

Furnishings

Meeting Rooms:
Conference table, ref. Antenna - Knoll
Conference table, ref. Medamorph – Vitra
Swivel chair, ref. Pollock in black eco-leather.
Swivel chair, ref. Volpino in Diamond Mesh Dim Grey fabric
Open Space:
Work station, ref. Antenna in white laminate - Knoll
Chair, ref. Embody Nova – Herman Miller

Reception furniture: Reception Desk:
Wood/MDF painted white lacquer RAL 9016
White back-painted glass panel
Terrace:
Chair, ref. “Espécies” in Ipê and Maçaranduba demolition wood – Zanini De Zanine
Side table in Pequi demolition wood – Zanini De Zanine
Chaise longue in Ipê demolition wood – Zanini De Zanine

Fixed seating:

Chairs:

Tables:

Upholstery:

Other furniture:

Lighting

Elevator Lobby: Xbm Alogatmo – Artemide
Open Space: Luceo L-H Uxp-H 228 E 01 - Trilux

Vertical Garden:
Geo Edge70/2/10 – Lumini
Maxiwoody Medium 5659 – Iguzzine
Mercure Lightline 1e2272 - Targetti

Conveyance

Elevators/escalators: Spiral Stair:
White powder coated steel, RAL 9010
Stainless steel handrail
Unitized curved clear glass panel 3 layers - 10mm
Risers: White powder coated steel painted RAL9010
Treads: Glass on white powder coated steel painted RAL9010
Emergency Stair:

Stone flooring “Preto Extra Michelangelo” Sandblasted Granite, with water repellent sealer
From Espirito Santo - Santa Leopoldina region
Handrail, stainless steel, brushed
Grille customized, White Steel Ral9010
Elevator:

Elevator OTIS
Elevator doors, stainless
Wall finish - Clear Glass Back Painted RAL 9016
Cabin ceiling - White Aluminum Panel
Floor - “Branco Extra” Honed Marble
Elevator Cabin made by RIOLEV (contractor)