Laguna Gallery / Estúdio 41
Text description provided by the architects. A space of luminosity, an atmosphere of subdued light, whose objective is to promote well-being. A place where light is the protagonist not only during the day but as an urban lamp at night. A gallery designed to welcome, celebrate meetings and fulfill the wishes of people looking for qualified spaces to live.
In this store for Incorporadora Laguna, a question arises from the beginning: on a narrow lot, with walled sides, and a street with high vehicle traffic, what would be the desirable visuals?
To answer this question, the project suggests two possible approaches: the excavation of a garden on the underground perimeter, building a new place, and the choice of a translucent material that reveals luminosities, but not the visual ones from the interior of the building.
The implantation follows the geometry of the lot, at the back, in an extended region, is the parking lot. The front portion, next to the street, is reserved for the shop window.
The program then unfolds over three floors, with the ground floor concentrating on the café/bar and visitor reception, the basement floor with the areas for models, meetings, and brokers’ work, and the top floor being reserved for decorated apartments.
The facades are built in a double envelope system. Externally, we have a volume whose materiality consists of white alveolar polycarbonate. The inner surface of this double wall is resolved with an aluminum and acid-etched glass system.
The assembly of the building is carried out through the construction of a prefabricated concrete structure. The structure organizes itself, and supports people’s spaces, without assuming a leading role. It is simple and modulated, supporting the translucent envelope and exploring the potential of natural light.
The intention is for the commercial space to communicate a subdued, unusual luminosity, providing an atmosphere of quiet, reflective spaces, conducive to decision-making by future property owners.
