Puerta Costanera Building / Turner Arquitectos

Puerta Costanera Building / Turner Arquitectos

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Text description provided by the architects. The Puerta Costanera building is the first stage of a larger mixed-use project located at the intersection of Nueva Costanera and Américo Vespucio, which is also the connection between Américo Vespucio and Bicentenario parks. Taking this into account, both this building and the ones to come are considered as the first commercial floor in order to create a new public space connecting the parks. 

The built volume responds to the different urban scales in 3 distinct layers: base, body, and top. The base consists of a plinth formed by a ground floor and a commercial basement, completely open to the surrounding sidewalks, in order to enhance the experience of pedestrians, customers, and building residents when entering the lobby. 

Then, the body of the building stands out by highlighting only 2 elements presented in an honest and unadorned way: structure and skin. The reinforced concrete structure is presented without coatings or paint, taking advantage of the material’s plasticity to curve the terraces, giving more movement to the facades. On the other hand, the building’s skin consists of a ventilated facade based on panels and movable metal blinds, which together take care of thermal insulation and solar control. 

Finally, the top of the building is not just a resultant; it was approached as a habitable fifth facade, hiding the technical floor and all its equipment with a large metal ring, visible from a distance and becoming an iconic element within the building’s composition.