Situm Business Center

Private Competition for a Retail and Office Complex in Medellín.

Ciudad del Río Retail and Office Complex was designed to be built in the order considered necessary by the promoter.

It had an underground parking level in each block and potentially having three towers in total.

For this proposal we considered that the most important thing was to design a building with today' s essential attributes: sustainability, capacity of transformation and public space.

With the advice of the expert in thermodynamics Salmaan Craig, we designed a building that did not depend on mechanical ventilation, but on the contrary, that had natural ventilation, considering the good climatic conditions of the tropics, and specially, of the city Medellín.

The design met the demands of the moment; however, it had the possibility of transformation, quickly adapting to future needs without the need for a large investment: vehicle parking lots could be transformed into offices and eventually into housing, halls of meetings, interaction spaces, etc. in accordance with the changes and demands of the world of work and urban dynamics.

The privileged location of the project, in the urban area of Medellin, close to public transport, between cultural and business centers, housing, it required to highlight the concepts of public space and urban planning. That is why the design was generous on the ground floor, connecting the streets, integrating the pedestrian accesses and public spaces of the block, commercial premises with services for the neighborhood, generating a close and friendly environment with the pedestrian and the city.