Project for the administrative head-office of COPASA – Companhia de Saneamento de Minas Gerais, Brazil (Sanitation Company of Minas Gerais)

A building to manage water resources.

Honorable Mention: Award from the Brazilian Architects Institute - IAB MG, 2008 (category: institutional building).
Finalist: VI Corporate Architecture Grand Prize (category: public constructions). Promotion: Arquishow Magazine, 2008.

Project for the administrative head-office of COPASA – Companhia de Saneamento de Minas Gerais, Brazil (Sanitation Company of Minas Gerais)
In Minas Gerais, a state located in Middle East of Brazil, COPASA - Companhia de Saneamento de Minas Gerais, is the state owned company responsible for the water treatment and distribution to the majority of the cities. For the planning and management, the company has an Administrative District for each of the five regions in the state. The project here presented comprehends one of the administrative head-office, located in São Sebastião do Paraíso – Minas Gerais state.
The architectonical language used in this construction searched to articulate the two orders on which the activities of the company are based. On one hand, the Natural Order referring to the hydric resources, raw-material used to supply the municipal districts. This Order was expressed by the sinuous wall that surrounds the entire extension of the front façade and crosses the building, being extended to beyond the posterior façade. This curve line conducts the public to the main access of the company and simultaneously creates and internal yard for the conviviality of employees.
On the other hand, the Technological Order which leads to the complex technical apparatus used on sanitation of water coming from rivers and streams. This order is shown mainly by the choice of materials and by the presence of rationalist lines on the architectonical syntax. The apparent ducts for pluvial water, the same used on the water supply system, reinforce this concept.
In addition to the curve line already mentioned, the architectonical solution for the activities program was structured in two other organizing elements: the “articulating” referring to the volume of white color, and the “operational” referring to the one in ochre color. The articulating volume is occupied by horizontal and vertical circulating axles, which establish the connection among various sectors of the company. The operational is occupied by the set of rooms designated to management and planning of the supply systems.
In order to make this construction feasible, with scarce availability of financial resources, the technical specifications privileged constructive materials and systems with low technological aggregate. Using local resources was an indispensible strategy to reduce the construction global cost.