WDT Mixed Use Building
Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil 2016The western region of Belo Horizonte, although predominantly residential, features a relatively diverse range of uses, accommodating commercial activities, important healthcare institutions such as Galba Veloso Hospital and Sarah Kubitschek Hospital, as well as one of the largest convention centers in Latin America, Expominas. It also includes major public and private educational facilities, among them the Federal Center for Technological Education (CEFET) and Colégio Salesiano. Despite this diversity, there is a lack of truly public areas, such as squares and parks—open spaces where the population can walk, gather, rest, or contemplate the landscape with safety and comfort. Likewise, the local supply of commercial spaces and everyday amenities is scarce and scattered, forcing long commutes to the central area of the city. In this context, the project positions itself as more than a simple building, but rather as a mixed-use facility with public and semi-public potential, establishing a direct relationship with its immediate surroundings and with the city, becoming a new center of activity in the neighborhood and a landmark in the urban landscape.
From a volumetric standpoint, the proposal is simple and striking, austere and monumental: a vertical element 70 meters high along the north–south axis is set atop a horizontal element along the east–west axis, in order to make full use of the site’s development potential.
The 16-story tower is divided into two volumes separated by a large suspended double-height void at the middle of the building. This pilotis organizes the floor slabs into two groups, as if they were two stacked buildings with distinct functions, separating the developer’s operational spaces from the corporate spaces. Other smaller voids “pierce” the prismatic volume of the tower, creating landscaped outdoor areas intended to accommodate diverse uses, as well as to contribute to the building’s thermal and lighting comfort.
Its structure is modular, orthogonal, and independent from the enclosure, allowing the space to be designed in a rational and optimized manner, while freeing the façades for a glass curtain wall system. Vertical brise-soleils envelop the entire tower, reinforcing its volumetry as a landmark on the city’s skyline and adding to the set of thermal control strategies.
The podium has four levels and is also divided into two uses—parking and public services—with its roof responsible for connecting the building to the city, functioning as a large open plaza accessible to both users and passersby.
Project: WDT Mixed Use Building
Location: Belo Horizonte, MG
Year: 2016
Authors: Bruno Campos, Marcelo Fontes e Silvio Todeschi
Status: Project
