| “Our project designs a tower that pronounces itself over the Marginal of the Bay of Luanda, consisting of a pure volume of 22 floors, standing on two levels of floors that are in direct contact with the ground, which at the same time give continuity to the adjacent buildings on the front of Praça do Ambiente. Whereas we propose a glass façade covering for the ground floor (solution of tacked glass), that is appropriate for it’s commercial programs that are to occupy those spaces, we intend to apply a ventilated façade for the superior volume, constituted of a coverage with compact panels made of a concrete and fiber mixture in anthracite. The windows are endowed with a framework in anodized aluminum in its natural color, with reflecting uncolored double glass (with an appropriate thermal coefficient).
All the measures and decisions taken in the course of this project, in addition to the technical questions of function, intend to introduce a superior level of comfort to the spaces, suitable for the constructional, urban and business realities of the actual market.
Perhaps the most outstanding characteristic of this building is the way of how its image minimizes the differences between the traditional business and residential towers, having united those two distinct uses in one unique and undistinguishable image.”
“The logic of the windows has been created from the manifestation of movement on the façade of the building, resulting as a consequence of the inner spaces’ dynamics. Great and overall apertures present themselves, being different on every floor, permitting diverse typologies of use for each situation and de-constructing the volumes in an organic style.
This front design permits the total integration of the (lower) service floors and the residential zone. The balconies appear hidden in between the streams of windows as a more recessed zone in relation to the façade, having the possibility of serving as an extension of the living rooms or as technical areas, hiding the air conditioning equipment. This solution evokes the contemporary minimalist sculptures as well as the traditional African drawings, and such being able to unite two universes in a unique and unforgettable image.
This proposal creates an architectonical language that reflects the concern with the image of a building that will be a new landmark of Luanda’s skyline, at the same time as it is a manifestation of a contemporary and adequate habitability respecting the programs that intend to be implanted and rooted in the Capital.
Last but not least, we want a formal and functional equilibrium between the use of technological and contemporary materials in the construction and a flexible solution related to the function and use for whom will live in this building, with the intention to create the city in an interesting and responsible way.” |
