Vodafone Headquarters / Barbosa & Guimarães

Mar 2010

Uploaded by Nico Saieh — Filed under: Institutional Architecture ,Offices ,Selected , Barbosa & Guimarães, Concrete, Fernando Guerra, Portugal

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Architects: Barbosa & Guimarães
Location: Porto, Portugal
Principals in Charge: José António Barbosa, Pedro Lopes Guimarães
Collaborators: Ana Campante, Ana Carvalho, Ana Mota, Daniela Teixeira, Eunice Lopes, Filipe Secca, Henrique Dias, Hugo Abreu, Nuno Felgar, José Marques, Miguel Pimenta, Pablo Rebelo, Paula Fonseca, Paulo Lima, Raul Andrade, Sara Caruso
Client: Vodafone
Structure: Afaconsult / Carlos Quinaz
Hydraulic: Afaconsult / Marta Peleteiro
Electrical: RGA / Luis Fernandes
Mechanical; RGA / Pedro Albuquerque
Contractor: Teixeira Duarte
ConstructionManagement: Pedro Coelho
Project Year: 2006-2008
Construction Year: 2007-2009
Photographs: FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

In July 2006, when we were invated to the new building competition, through the media, radio, television and newspapers we could notice the following slogan: “VODAFONE LIFE, LIFE IN MOTION.”

This sentence reflects the attitude and philosophy of Vodafone.

We believe that the new building should be faithful to this idea, adopting a dynamic image, conveying the sense of movement, challenging the static.

section 05

Seeking inspiration from painting, sculpture, photography, arts which had already faced this dilemma, the office building, designed usually linear, begins to become an irregular body, out of balance, with many faces in motion.

The formalization of this concept is based on the concrete, which through its plasticity, allows to create irregular and free-form shapes, working both as a structural solution and exterior appearence, creating a unique shape, a monolithic building, bringing cohesion and unity to the set.

The technical complexity of the building leads to a periphery structural solution, a shell of concrete, like an egg, reducing internal support to the two stairwells and three central pillars, allowing great versatility in its interior space use.

Functionally, the building has eight floors working three as underground.

On the ground floor, in addition to the auditorium, we have a store facing the Boavista Avenue, the cafeteria and office acess.

In the four upper floors appears the offices working as open-space with an accessible terrace.

In the underground, the floors -3 and -2, are working as car parking facilities and the -1 floor is occupied by technical areas and training rooms.

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

: © FG+SG – Fernando Guerra, Sergio Guerra

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* Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.

Cite:
Saieh , Nico . "Vodafone Headquarters / Barbosa & Guimarães" 31 Mar 2010. ArchDaily. Accessed 09 Feb 2012. <http://www.archdaily.com/54336>

Comments (52)
Tweets (21)
Links to this entry (5)

Ballista Magazine says:

Wow…brandscapes. In my humble opinion, a majority of these brand-turned-environments fall flat, but this is a very impressive building from an identity standpoint. This will probably garner some criticism for the apparent randomness of the generated form, but sometimes these things just work. The only problem I see is that it renders 99% of work environments as droll. Enjoy working jealously in your bland cubicles tomorrow, friends!

# March 31, 2010 at 23:19

nuno says:

After visiting it I can say this photos make the building look much more interesting than it actually is. Great photos.

# May 27, 2011 at 22:21

nando says:

woow! loved it

# March 31, 2010 at 23:32

+++ says:

really interesting sense of space created by the forms, slits, and openings

# April 1, 2010 at 00:08

scash says:

looks like something i once made in sketch-up

# April 1, 2010 at 01:03

Scozia says:

Ironically, the walls are so thick that when I visited this building last month my Vodafone mobile had no signal inside.

# April 1, 2010 at 05:21

Hungaro says:

Brilliant!

# April 1, 2010 at 06:26

alfredo moreira says:

That is strange friend ’cause the bldg has full indoor mobile network coverage .

# February 15, 2011 at 11:24

Małgorzata says:

Genious!!! or Za..bisty!!!

# April 1, 2010 at 07:10

Obelix says:

This project is a monolith…compared to is father..which is in the same avenue..
check it!
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/657874.jpg

# April 1, 2010 at 08:43

devoid says:

@Obelix

It’s stupid to compare this with Casa da Música.

# April 1, 2010 at 10:20

blackstone says:

ok, so it’s a oddly shaped building with miserable little slits for windows. pure kitsch.

# April 1, 2010 at 08:44

xirclebox says:

cool building –> Vodafone Headquarters / Barbosa & Guimarães http://bit.ly/aDO5AR /cc @feedly

# April 1, 2010 at 10:11

xavi says:

This building reminded me of Frank gehry’s IAC building in NYC

# April 1, 2010 at 10:56

Pedro T says:

The building works well, it is well-made but when you see the Casa da Música (Rem Koolhaas) building in the end of that avenue (Boavista), you can see where they got the concept.. that´s the (very) poor side of the project.

You can support one building like Casa da Música in the streets of Porto but when you get a load of them in the same place, it loses its impact and the city looks like a “zoo” of architecture.

# April 1, 2010 at 11:13

zephyr says:

what’s wrong with a “zoo” of architecture?

# April 1, 2010 at 13:53

Leonardo Ximenes says:

The same thing that’s wrong with a regular zoo: It’s nice to have one in your city, but not in your front yard.

# April 5, 2010 at 15:47

Boavista is massive though, you can’t even see one from the other.

Both have a tectonic feel and similar materiality, but I wouldn’t say they drown each other out as other than the first line of the address the have no relation to one another.

# April 1, 2010 at 13:59

bruno says:

its like a messed up model from sketchup, as if novelty of forms would mean a good architecture

# April 1, 2010 at 14:34

when you look at plans and section cuts you see the extra space that these ‘masks’ take around a standard organized building

# April 1, 2010 at 14:38

Santie says:

What a breath of fresh air!!! Ja, ja…I know timeless architecture and the likes…blah blah….but this is REALLY REFRESHING!! THANK YOU!

# April 1, 2010 at 16:43

Karin Watson says:

Vodafone Headquarters in Portugal. Barbosa & Guimaraes http://bit.ly/crGqJ6

# April 1, 2010 at 18:25

{ kat } says:

if only the blank exterior wall were a rock climbing wall!

# April 1, 2010 at 20:49

up_today_arch says:

of course, to build this building it is the step to investigate authors creativity… in spite of critisizm. You always should make most impressive things what you can… It is my way and my point of view.

# April 2, 2010 at 01:31

obelix says:

its a rip of rem koolhaas, in almost every aspect..
im tired of this project…

# April 2, 2010 at 05:56

yoyo says:

primeiro que tudo parabens aos arquitectos!!!

I think this project probably shows a great deal of influence from the likes of Rem. But why is that not good? If there is a general criticism that i could make of the majority of interventions here shown from Portugal is that they are very referential to modernism. This does not mean they are generally bad, but simply not as creative as they should be I believe. I know that in Portugal budget is always an issue and this influences the output, but it´s still nice to see an attempt at conceptual integration and branding of a project. Not perfect but hei!
As for Rem, What’s the problem about learning from the man? Surely this is a good thing!

# April 2, 2010 at 06:23

(tfa) says:

looks interesting… but I do not know if it’ll stay interesting in a few years.. maybe feeling sick.

# April 2, 2010 at 11:46

Rick says:

Another Koolhaas wannabe.

# April 3, 2010 at 11:02

aarchitektai.lt says:

BRILLIANT!
congratulations!

# April 3, 2010 at 13:14

Ian Barton says:

Vodafone Headquarters / Barbosa & Guimarães http://cli.gs/sZyaR

# April 4, 2010 at 05:07

Kwangbae Lee says:

"Vodafone Headquarters / Barbosa & Guimarães" http://bit.ly/94LrBI 조형으로 브랜딩하려면 짜쳐도 이정도는 해야지. 하이고 이쁘다.

# April 4, 2010 at 06:15

Stay Kreative says:

Vodafone Headquarters / Barbosa & Guimarães
http://www.archdaily.com/54336/vodafone-headquarters-barbosa-guimaraes/

# April 6, 2010 at 05:24

SWG STUDIO says:

“VODAFONE LIFE, LIFE IN MOTION” Vodafone Headquarters in Porto, Portugal by Barbosa & Guimarães architects. http://bit.ly/9QZcNk

# April 8, 2010 at 08:12

# April 8, 2010 at 08:58

Cenourinha says:

w00t, no Porto? http://www.archdaily.com/54336/vodafone-headquarters-barbosa-guimaraes/

# April 17, 2010 at 12:37

Pedro Gomes says:

RT @cenourinha: w00t, no Porto? http://www.archdaily.com/54336/vodafone-headquarters-barbosa-guimaraes/

# April 17, 2010 at 12:55

Adelina Popescu says:

Check out: "Vodafone Headquarters / Barbosa & Guimarães | ArchDaily"( http://twitthis.com/qu9fnb )

# May 5, 2010 at 11:13

# June 6, 2010 at 18:59

X says:

What about beeing origingal?
We have a “Koolhaas” already, in the same city… and in the same avenue!

# January 21, 2011 at 09:33

António João Antunes says:

Gosto muito do vosso edificio.
Parabéns!

# February 1, 2011 at 11:36

Casa da Musica 2.0 says:

It’s a copy of the Casa da Musica concept!

Congratulations for the engineering team, because it is really tough to design this type of buildings, but the architect should have had more imagination. It’s not a creation, but a copy.

# February 2, 2011 at 12:43

ricardo says:

I think that both Koolhaas and now Barbosa & Guimarães have taken the identity of late Porto influencial architects such as Siza and have reshaped – even toyed with – the concept of the simple white lines that have become so characteristic of buildings such as Serralves, etc. One can even imagine the evolution of the form from one end of the Avenue towards the other. If anything I believe its quiet clever, congratulations.

# February 5, 2011 at 09:47

Sanjeev Sabharwal says:

I’ve read all the comments so far, and I think comparisons should not be made. Each building should be judged on its own merit.
Suppose for a moment that you didn’t know, but it was true, that Rem was the real architect, and that this was a practical joke to see how you people react?
It’s basically a visual statement, looks dynamic, fulfills functional requirements, and that’s enough to tell me that it’s a good building. Appreciate it as sculpture!

# February 15, 2011 at 11:47

Photo says: