Excerpt:CL Warehouses is an industrial space designed by the architectural firm VAGA. It was thought that these warehouses would be occupied by uses such as convenience stores, pharmacies, or small workshops. Still, it was not known how the city’s population would welcome the building. To ensure that this uncertainty did not limit the commercialization of the spaces, the architectural design was intended to be as flexible as possible, allowing a diverse range of uses and activities to be held inside the spaces.
Project Description
[Text as submitted by Architect] In a slightly uphill corner plot positioned perpendicular to one of the main traffic routes in the center of Cesário Lange, a city near the state capital of São Paulo, five warehouses were established to absorb various types of commercial and service activities.
The initial premise for the project was flexibility, mainly due to the lack of definition of the programs that the modules of just over 90sqm would host. Initially, it was thought that these warehouses would be occupied by uses such as convenience stores, pharmacies, or small workshops. Still, it was not known how the city’s population would welcome the building. To ensure that this uncertainty did not limit the commercialization of the spaces, the architectural design was intended to be as flexible as possible, allowing a diverse range of uses and activities to be held inside the spaces. In addition to that, since the beginning of the design process, the client’s tight construction budget was considered, aiming for a low initial investment and a fast financial return with the incorporation.
Therefore, the project was developed by exploring modulated structural planes, considering that the spans between them would be easily overcome without the need for complex structures, simplifying the bearing of the mezzanines and the roof. These structural plans were built out of uncoated concrete blocks to emphasize the structural solution and reduce the final cost of the building. In between these elements, outstanding in the architectural composition, pieces of glass brick and roll-up steel doors were inserted to fulfill the function of access and natural lighting without the need for window and door frames.
About the site plan, a raised square was placed on the street corner, facing the busiest road and directly serving the first warehouse that had the potential of having a unique relationship with the outer space and the sidewalk. The other warehouses have independent access by the adjacent street, which is of less urban importance.
Upon the completion of the construction, a curious fact was remarked. As the building stood out from the city’s other buildings of just under 20,000 inhabitants and unprovided buildings with similar characteristics, bars and retail stores started occupying the spaces, much different than the uses initially considered.
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