On October 5, 2020 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, construction on the Avenida Cordoba 120 project began. The design targets a LEED Gold rating, adding to its other sustainability credentials, such as extensive public green space.
The 35-story office tower is located at a key junction connecting the traditional city centre and the main entrance to Puerto Madero—the historic harbor area—making i a revitalizing addition to the central district of the city, creating a unique new presence on the skyline.
Juan Frigerio, Partner at design firm Foster + Partners, said “The massing of this tower has been carefully tailored to fit this most unique of sites, enhancing the surrounding city fabric, opening view corridors and creating a lush public garden for the city for everyone to enjoy. The cascading terraces define the sculptural form of the building, while offering wonderful outdoor meeting and leisure spaces to achieve exceptional workplaces.”
The strategic site is at the crossroads between Avenida Cordoba, and Avenida Alem, two of the biggest thoroughfares in the city, and bound by Avenida Madero to the east.
The triangular form of the building maximizes views towards the Rio de la Plata river and towards the dense city center, while the lift core located along the southern façade enables large, flexible and spacious floorplans.
Seventy per cent of the ground plan is open public space in the form of a lush garden that continues below the building, which is raised above an inviting café nestled within the landscape. The garden offers a natural oasis for office workers and the public to relax while surrounded by greenery and for larger scale corporate events.
David Summerfield, Head of Studio at Foster + Partners, explained “Avenida Cordoba 120 combines structure and nature to create a landmark building that will set a new benchmark for office buildings in the region. Through its materiality and spatial variety, it offers flexible workspaces for a range of companies, while enhancing its urban surroundings.”
The vegetation travels up in the form of triple-story terraces that create outdoor spaces for informal meetings throughout the tower.
These seven terraces along with the five internal atria form the main organizing principle around which the office floorplates are designed. The offices are grouped together as a series of villages centered around these open spaces, allowing visual connections throughout different levels.
The building features as many as twenty different plan variations based on four basic floorplates, allowing organizations unprecedented choice.
Featuring a raised entrance lobby, Avenida Cordoba 120 can be accessed by a promenade of terraced steps as well as by escalators banks to the east and the west. A dedicated cycle ramp and accessible entrance is located towards the south-eastern apex of the building.
Using a restrained material palette of wood, fair-faced concrete and polished stainless steel, the lobby of the tower actively creates a welcoming atmosphere. The folded stainless-steel façade is designed around a “picture frame” principle that frames views out to the city below and reduces heat gain.
Images courtesy of Foster + Partners.