Design creates visual identity
Planned with the purpose of being a differentiated enterprise in the Vila Olímpia Village in São Paulo, Continental Square Faria Lima consists of three main buildings: the Continental Office Tower and two linked blocks; Caesar Business flats and Caesar Park Hotel.
The design of each building was driven by its intended functionality. Pilkington Suncool™ Blue* high performance glass was used for its excellent solar control properties and ability to define the identity of the building.
Access to the buildings is via a central courtyard. The side street provides access to shops and a gymnasium. The building has been built on high concrete pillars, which create an open space on the ground floor.
Making use of 14,000 m² of Pilkington Suncool™ Blue glass in the whole block, the office tower required a plant with 2,000 m² of cinder blocks, resulting in a square shaped 15-storey building.
Visual Identity
In the façades, reflective glass forms vertical and horizontal stripes. The use of red, cream and white finishing for the panels created the identity of the buildings.
Noise reduction glass was a strong requirement for the hotel and the flats. As a result, the façades are glazed with 12 mm reflective laminated glass, glued with structural silicone to aluminium profiles.
For the commercial tower façade, as well as the ground floor and the marquise which connects the buildings, the glass was installed using a mixed mechanical fastening system. “They were framed with bezels,” explains Itefal Director, José Sabioni. “Then, the glass used in the tower façade was sealed using neutral silicone. On the basement and ground floor areas, the fastening and sealing was done using silicone bezels.”
Hanging marquise
The main access to the complex, through Olimpíadas Street, is symbolised by a hanging marquise constructed of glass in the central square. Glass was used to maximise the use of natural daylight.
220 m² of 10 mm Pilkington Optilam™ fastened with silicone bezels to aluminium squares was used.
* Pilkington Suncool™ Blue is a product of a Pilkington joint venture with Saint Gobain in Brazil.