Between warehouses and sheds. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler
16/12/2017.
[Montevideo] Uruguay
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
Montevideo architecture firm Cotignola Staricco Tobler has designed an all-white office building between shipping warehouses, in the country's capital, Uruguay. The building develops its program around two courtyards on its second level.
Exterior view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Exterior view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Courtyard view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Courtyard view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Interior view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Interior view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Interior view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Detail. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Interior view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Staircase view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Staircase view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Staircase view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Staircase view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Detail. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Site plan. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Axonometric view. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Ground floor plan. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
First floor plan. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Elevation. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
Section. Prinzi Offices by Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler. Photograph © Marcos Guiponi
The design by Cotignola Staricco Tobler for these offices in Montevideo, develops the project on a relatively narrow site, taking advantage of part of the pre-existing conditions, both constructive and urban.
On the outside, an abstract façade is designed and inside the program design unfolds on two floors characterized by white finishes that favor natural interior lighting and wood, as a warmer material.
On the outside, an abstract façade is designed and inside the program design unfolds on two floors characterized by white finishes that favor natural interior lighting and wood, as a warmer material.
Description of project by Cotignola Staricco Tobler
The office functions as an element that connects and structures the compound of warehouses and sheds that are property of Prinzi S.A.
The project was commissioned by a firm engaged in the import and export of products for the meat packing industry, which wanted to relocate its offices to its distribution center set in the traditional “La Comercial” neighborhood of Montevideo, Uruguay. This is how the old industrial area became a logistics hub capable of centralizing the client’s operations.
The proposal focuses on articulating the various warehouses and sheds to become the operational center of the physical plant’s 2,500 sq m. This is achieved thanks to the central location of the lot destined to offices, within the existing group of constructions belonging to different periods, of varied size and purpose. The design for the new offices partly reuses these constructions, namely the areas that used to house the locker rooms and dining spaces of the old industrial center.
The existing ducts running along the facade—which originally sustained the service areas of the factory—allow to conceive a “deep” facade, thus tending to one of the client’s main concerns: to separate and give intimacy to the offices without surrendering light-filled workspaces.
Once the issue of connection has been resolved—which is the purpose behind the entire intervention—, the proposal is simply defined by means of a staircase and two patios which connect and illuminate the office’s two open-plan levels.
More information
Architects
Andrés Cotignola, Marcelo Staricco, Carolina Tobler
Collaborators
Alberto Catañy, structural engineer
Client
Prinzi S.A.
Area
500 m²
Dates
Completed date.- May 2017
Budget/Construction Cost
$US 300,000
Venue
La Comercial, Montevideo, Uruguay
Architecture Studio Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler
Cotignola, Staricco, Tobler is an architecture studio founded by Marcelo Staricco, Carolina Tobler, Ándres Cotignola, in 2013 and based in Montevideo. The company maintains a diversified practice within the realm of architectural design, especially in the field of housing and commercial offices. The members share their practice with a committed teaching activity at different Institutes and Design Studios of the Universidad de la República in Uruguay.
Ándres Cotignola
Architect. FADU Udelar. Teacher Workshop Apolo. Second Year Course Coordinator - FADU - UdelaR. Deputy Member Agency-A. Responsible for Projects and Construction Management. Postgraduate studies at the Universidad de la Republica (Project Research Department 2017).
Marcelo Staricco
Architect. Teacher Dance Workshop. First Year Course Coordinator - FADU - UdelaR. Member of the Board of Directors Collective Dance Commission. FADU. UdelaR. Deputy Member-A. Project Manager. He studied postgraduate studies at the Universidad de la República (Project Research Department 2017). Master in Architecture Project. FADU. UdelaR.
Carolina Tobler
Architect FADU. UdelaR. Teacher Workshop Apolo. Co-Coordinator of First Year - FADU - Udelar. Research of the Institute of Theory and Urbanism - FADU - Udelar. Collaborator in urban and landscape matters at Sprechmann-Capandeguy Consulting. Master's Degree in Architecture Project, MARQ, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Santiago, Chile.
Ándres Cotignola
Architect. FADU Udelar. Teacher Workshop Apolo. Second Year Course Coordinator - FADU - UdelaR. Deputy Member Agency-A. Responsible for Projects and Construction Management. Postgraduate studies at the Universidad de la Republica (Project Research Department 2017).
Marcelo Staricco
Architect. Teacher Dance Workshop. First Year Course Coordinator - FADU - UdelaR. Member of the Board of Directors Collective Dance Commission. FADU. UdelaR. Deputy Member-A. Project Manager. He studied postgraduate studies at the Universidad de la República (Project Research Department 2017). Master in Architecture Project. FADU. UdelaR.
Carolina Tobler
Architect FADU. UdelaR. Teacher Workshop Apolo. Co-Coordinator of First Year - FADU - Udelar. Research of the Institute of Theory and Urbanism - FADU - Udelar. Collaborator in urban and landscape matters at Sprechmann-Capandeguy Consulting. Master's Degree in Architecture Project, MARQ, Pontificia Universidad Católica, Santiago, Chile.
