Located on the busy highway connecting the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the intervention project at Nestlé’s chocolate factory stands out in the generic landscape that borders the road and extends an invitation for passersby to enter the factory premises. In order to create a visiting route within the factory space, which dates back to the 1960s, the construction of access towers and glass and steel walkways was proposed, distinguished by their red color. These elements address both the issue of conflicting flows between production and visitation and the creation of a distinctive feature in the surroundings of the highway, standing out from the sober existing buildings in the factory.
Two towers and external walkways were built around the factory: one for entrance, smaller in scale, and another at the larger exit, facing the Dutra highway, both composed of a set of stairs and elevators. The metal structure of the towers and walkways consists of tubular profiles with a 100mm diameter, with variations in the thickness of the internal walls, providing the same detail for fixing laminated glass panels with red film (south-facing) and expanded steel sheets of brise type (north-facing). The structure is composed of non-coplanar triangular modules of 2.5m, repeating every 10m. This configuration not only assists structurally in bracing but also allows for a more slender structure, causing the glass panels to reflect the moving landscape of both the daily life of the factory and the surrounding highway.
The spans of walkway I are 10 meters (supported by pillars and metal beams of varying cross-section), and in the section between tower I and the factory, they are 27.5 meters. In walkway II, the span between the tower and the pillar is 15m, and the cantilever to the factory is 5m.
technical information
Completion: 2011
Architecture and Museography Project: Metro Arquitetos Associados
Team: Anna Ferrari, Gustavo Cedroni, and Martin Corullon, Paloma Delgado, Paula Noia, Ricardo Canton, Alfonso Simelio, Felipe Fuchs, Bruno Kim, Marina Ioshii, and Pedro Mesquita
Total Area: 1,850 m²
Spans of Walkways: 27.5m (Walkway 1) and 15.0m (Walkway 2)
Height: 17m (Tower 1) and 10m (Tower 2)
Total Weight of Structure: 42 tons
Total Distance of Visiting Route: 713m
Production: Giro Consultoria, Luciana Meili
Structure: Eng. Heloisa Maringoni, Companhia de Projetos
Foundations: Renato Perezin
Lighting: Lux Projetado, Ricardo Heder
Graphic Design: BVY Arquitetos, Cássia Buitoni
Content: Pletora, Paula Pinto e Silva
Soundtrack and Audio: Zut, Cacá Machado
Civil Construction: Emplatec, Eng. Rubens Molinari, Eng. Edimilson Brandão
Metal Structure: Bandeirantes
Scenography: Liz Eventos, Luis Picker
Equipment and Audiovisual Programming: Emotique
Nestlé Brasil Chocolates: Luis Felipe Rego, Ricardo Bassani, Lívia Rodrigues, Marina Pádua, Eng. Albano Alves
Communication Agency: J.W.T.
Photos: Leonardo Finotti