Research Station of Souza Cruz | Rio Negro
Location
Mafra / SC
Category
Industrial Laboratory
Year
2018
Project context:
People oriented construction
The project consists of a research station for the cigarette industry Souza Cruz. The purpose, since the design conception, was to transform the industrial and technical environment in more pleasant areas to employees.
The project has, beyond the laboratory area, storage spaces, administrative areas, cafeteria, auditorium, meeting rooms and a big hall that connects all the buildings.
The challenge
The main challenge of the project was to preserve the information in the laboratories host, maintaining the buildings closed and at the same time bringing life to these areas – meeting the stricts industry laws.
Secondary challenges
A secondary challenge was to sectorize the buildings meeting all the access restrictions demanded by the client and also connecting them in a place where all the employees could be together.
Solutions
Natural vegetation
The project site was inserted in a big vegetation area and, as the main purpose of the design was to bring a pleasant environment to the employees, big openings were created to watch the place surroundings.
Contemporary architecture
With a contemporary architecture, the buildings have straight lines with some angles that break the rigidity of the openings and of the layout. As the laboratories are closed rooms because of safety information, internal gardens were created, allowing the windows to be opened to these pleasant and less confined spaces.
Technical solutions
The entire layout was developed thinking in the process of experimentation of the client. The laboratories were organized as parallel volumes, in sequence, around a central corridor, with the purpose of separating internal procedures. This strategy allows future expansions in the layout without changing the production process.
A see-through coverage that connects the buildings was places to create a space where all the employees, of the different areas, can share and trade experiences – this was a big concern of the client.