Maranhão

Maranhão Administration Center (CAE) – Strategy 
Our design for the new administration offices is a strategy for the entire CAE complex; symbolically, practically, spatially, and economically. We aim to create a PLACE. A place for all; employees, visitors, users, politicians, officials and the citizens of Maranhão.

Rather than just administration offices, a symbol of the strength of the collective state. One simple move releases the full potential of the Maranhao Administartion offices. THE RING.

Consolidation
The new Maranhão Administration Center (CAE) shall symbolize the new consolidation of all the state’s central administrative offices. The new CAE shall be a reference for employees, inhabitants, visitors, users and officials. An essential move in the consolidation of any large public facility is the successful creation of a place. To design a collective identity that becomes the symbol of the new consolidated administration. One that favors exchange, interconnection, clarity and strength.

Any successful consolidation of a knowledge dependent organization must consider the daily life quality of its main asset: its employees. In a growing economy, it is becoming increasingly important to offer attractive and ample work environments to attract retain the talented worker.

Design strategy
Our design shifts the current condition from a collection of desolated office buildings stranded in a sea of parking to a place of unity. One simple move releases an apparently infernal situation. The ring unites the existing buildings, creates clear orientation, access and circulation. In its center a piece of NATURE. The communal space of the complex becomes a collective garden.

Inside, the ring offers an efficient and flexible office plan. Without start or ending, the plan is adaptable to any future changes. The deep plan is efficient solution to the varied functions of the complex.

Below, the ring organizes a series of communal facilities; restaurants, cafes, visitor center, auditorium, exhibition library and entries. The space becomes a covered promenade, a marquise for sunny and rainy days.

Above a private roof garden for the employees. A place for contemplation, sport, lunch breaks, exchange.

In the center we implement a section of the neighboring forest, a fauna full of life and a lung for the complex. A garden with a patchwork of paths and spaces, places for small gatherings and individual breaks or for visitors to wait.

Organization
The new entry pavilions connect the new and existing buildings in shared entries. Shared facilities are dotted under the ring as pearls on a chain. The new ground floor of the complex becomes an urban condition with defined spaces between building volumes. From suburban to urban!