2004
Project Partners
Description
Torre Almirante is a new landmark in the heart of downtown Rio de Janeiro, a building that extends the great tradition of Modernism in Brazil as it enhances the historic city center's rich urban tradition. The 36-story, 550,000-gross-square-foot office tower for international developer Hines, centrally located at the intersection of Avenida Barroso and Avenida Aranha, provides sweeping views of the city and the harbor. The building has been leased in its entirety by Petrobras, Brazil's national oil company.
The curving transparent facade which announces the main entry below flares upward to create a distinctive icon on the Rio skyline, a beacon illuminated by continuously changing lighting displays from LED fixtures concealed within the curtainwall. The luminous glow of the lobby's 20-foot-tall sweeping, back-lit onyx wall creates a similar beacon at street level, visible through full-height glass walls. A double-height open-air pedestrian arcade at the tower's base integrates the building into downtown Rio's system of continuous urban arcades. Retail shops flanking the lobby reinforce downtown Rio's pedestrian vitality. Above the main entry, three stacked, two-story winter gardens further animate the corner by providing unique meeting spaces for tenants.
The tower is clad in aluminum frame curtainwall with floor-to-ceiling high-performance, insulated low-E glazing. Buff-colored Brazilian granite is woven into the street facades from the street to the ninth floor to relate to the character of neighboring masonry buildings.
All office levels have raised floors for efficient air conditioning, electrical, and data distribution. Twelve high-speed passenger elevators grouped into three banks serve the tenant floors, along with a separate dedicated service elevator. The rooftop features a helipad; an adjacent fifteen-story structure, tucked behind two existing facades along Avenida Aranha, provides parking, conference facilities, and a secure access into the lobby for building tenants.