Edificio QBO
Studio: Hembert Penaranda Officina Architetti
Project: Edificio QBO
Location: Parque 93, Bogotà, Colombia
Year: 2016
Category: Working
Credit: André Kanayet, Diego Guerrero
The building is located in one of the most popular areas of Bogotá: the Parque 93. Considering the importance of the position, we wanted to be an active part of the park, with the intention to create an artwork as direct link between architecture and art.
The concept is born from the idea of the customer to represent his corporate image: a cube. The proportion between width, depth and height of the construction are equivalent, for this reason the cube concept came spontaneously.
The cube with its six floors of offices leans on the commercial basement; to give lightness to the shape, we decided to treat it as a fractal: the facade is composed by modular elements which are repeated throughout all the faces. The defragmentation is obtained through the study of the detail: only one detail defines the whole architecture.
The choice of the right glass has been fundamental: if it had been too transparent it would have disappeared but if it had been too reflective it would have been too aggressive, and it has been chosen specifically for the climate of Bogotá.
The glass facade changes its color depending on the climate. During the day, the number of the floors is not perceptible, the building is like a sculpture in the middle of the park; during the night the building disappears and become visible only for its illumination.