Caldeira Institute / Bhemn – Arch Experience Integrated

Caldeira Institute / Bhemn – Arch Experience Integrated

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Text description provided by the architects. The Caldeira Institute is a center of innovation and entrepreneurship, located in the 4th district of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul. A project carried out by BHEMN with the mission to perpetuate the local history and bring innovation to the city.

BHEMN – Arch Experience Integrated – performed the architectural transformation, as the creator of the conceptualization of space and project, and was responsible for the whole execution. The result is the renovation of a building built in the 1920s that one day hosted a boiler (“Caldeira” in Portuguese) brought from England by the entrepreneur A.J Renner, in a modern and collaborative space.

The project is a display of the world’s leading innovation hubs and meets the new work models, serving as inspiration for people and businesses. The main elements are architecture and design, thinking of every detail aimed at the use of materials, the creative use of raw materials, and the synergy between the old and the new.

The team carried out the demolitions of walls, slits, and new accesses, locksmith work, project and installation of air conditioning, floors, coatings and paintings, metal covering with glass, design, and execution of lighting, hydraulic and electrical facilities, adequacy and adaptation of acoustics, paintings, and plaster, and furniture.

Glass partitions and metal structures were designed to integrate all environments. Several indoor gardens have been reorganized in order to bring greater visual comfort and leisure. Nowadays they also serve as hosts for small institute events. The roof of the place remained intact, once it was part of the personality of the construction, and to evidence the details of the work, absorbing the light through a skylight and creating a contrast between the natural and the industrial.

Disposals of the former work were used in a contemporary way turning into furniture, contributing to ecological and sustainable work, reducing costs, materials, and unnecessary accumulation of garbage. Among the pieces of furniture created are the metal planters, the external wooden benches, and some pendant lighting. 

The main grandstand located at the core of the building aims to connect people and be the official space of conventions and talks. The structure of this place was elaborated with pillars and metal beams – improving the environment and marking it as the central landmark of the work. The pressure-treated deck wood benches and the upper floor in synthetic grass, bring comfort to the meeting spaces.

Today the Caldeira Institute has become an important place for the region, being the head office of the largest companies and startups in the state. This work, in addition to being timeless and functional, also helps to boost the neighborhood growth, improving security, and access to public transport, and encouraging the real estate market in the region. The Caldeira Institute is an event and a milestone in the architecture of the state. And this is a legacy of BHEMN.