French-Brazilian architecture studio Triptyque has completed the Inspira SP building in São Paulo, which is wrapped in a structural concrete cage lined with planters.
Located not far from the Museu de Arte de São Paulo, designed by Lina Bo Bardi, Inspira SP rises 100 metres (28 feet), capped at 20 storeys, and serves primarily as office space.
Triptyque has completed an office building in São Paulo
The building has a double-height base and crown, giving it a sense of vertical symmetry.
Glass-enclosed units make up the main volume of the tower, while concrete “green infrastructure” surrounds the building, which is made up of symmetrical, rectangular openings.
It is covered by a cage-like concrete structure
According to Triptyque, the superstructure grid is load-bearing, which allows the interior floors to be largely column-free.
“The tower is designed based on a peripheral structural grid in concrete, which is the project’s primary feature,” said the studio.
The entryway is enclosed by a triple-height space
“By moving the load-bearing elements to the periphery, the structural grid frees up the internal spaces, allowing each floor to be occupied in a free, flexible, and reprogrammable manner.”
The studio lined the external structure with planters, which will allow its appearance to soften and shift over time, as the plants grow.
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“More than just a building, Inspira becomes a green infrastructure,” said the studio. “A continuous system of planters, integrated into the concrete structure, allows vegetation to colonise and contradict the authoritarian geometry of the building.”
Terraces and outdoor walkways run in between the planters and the central volume, while in some places, it bumps up directly against the concrete shell.
Large planters rest in the plaza
At its base, Inspira SP is entered via a plaza that contains large planting beds.
The building’s volume opens up on its lower level, while the concrete grid remains, creating a multi-storey opening above the entrance.
Three standalone concrete volumes sit on the roof
Its crown is populated with three, standalone cubic concrete volumes covered by the building’s concrete structure. The individual units are each two storeys, with their facades pointing outwards to the city.
Wooden lattice screens and glass panels enclose the cubes, and slide open, so that the spaces are open-air.
The concrete frame is load-bearing
“The Inspira SP building, located in the Paulista Avenue region, emerges as a contemporary response to a consolidated urban context marked by the cultural and corporate intensity of São Paulo,” said the studio.
Other recent projects completed in São Paulo include a tilting pavilion by Estúdio Leonardo Zanatta and a “vertical garden tower” designed by French architect Jean Nouvel.
Skycrapers with green elements have become increasingly popular, especially after the reception of Italian architect Stefano Boeri’s Bosco Verticale in Milan.
The photography is by Maíra Acayaba.
Project credits:
Client: Hemisfério Sul Investimentos+ Toca 55 Incorporadora
Architecture: Triptyque
Team: Guillaume Sibaud, Olivier, Raaëlli, Gustavo Ziviani, Gustavo Panza, Luca Moreira, Rodrigo Gonzaga, Caio Dias de Sá, Gustavo Cherubini, Bruna Alcine, Bárbara Petri, Pedro Freire, Diego Santana Costa, Hassan Zoghbi de Palma, Julie Nolasco Barroca, Daniel Kenzo e
Enzo Nercolini
Landscape design: Sérgio Santana
Visual identity: Nitsche Arquitetos