ENRIQUE BROWNE & ASSOCIATE ARCHITECTS
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INP BUILDING (Social Security Institute) Location: Vicuña Mackenna Avenue. Santiago, Chile Architect: Enrique Browne Associate Architect: Patricio Sancha Collaborator Architect: Claudio Campos, Christine Filshill, Pilar Caulier, Clara Guzman y Veronica Celedón Site area: 4.218 m2 Constructed area: 31.130 m2 Date: 1997 The INP serves the Chileans who do not have a private pension system. They come from diverse institutions separated in different buildings but with an inefficient functioning. To solve this problem, a competition was called for a headquarter in Santiago, which would additionally serve as a symbol for the institution. Indeed, the guidelines of the competition emphasized the corporative image of the building. The site, was between two streets, the most important being the tree-lined Vicuña Mackenna Avenue on the eastern side. In any case the building had an east-west symmetry axis. The project has a clear and unmistakable profile. Its forma begins with two waterfalls in “V”, which attenuate the traffic noise and create an entrance plaza. From there the greenery seems to grow from the Avenue. A double stairway spins on itself and rises to its initial point, reaching its greatest height in a viewing deck towards the Andes mountains. This conclusion rests on two vertical edges that are inserted in the entrance plaza. The building acquires different forms according from where it is viewed. From the sides it has a triangular profile. From the front it resembles a tall keel amongst the vegetation and the water that surrounds it. Its verticality is accentuated with masts and panoramic elevators. The vegetation reduces the sun in the east and west, with energy savings. In its turn, each floor acquires a garden to be used by the employees in their free time. An additional fire emergency escape is provided. The two lateral facades vary with respect to each other. To the north there are large sun shades, while the south has bay-windows. Nature was also incorporated in the interior of the building, with two lateral atriums with indirect lighting. These atriums, in conjunction with the Main Lobby produce an internal space dynamic, with views of other floors, promoting team work. The building has two vertical circulation core. One serves the lobby. The second, with two panoramic elevators, serves the upper levels where the General Management section is located. The main access is on the first underground level, since the executives and important visitors arrive by cars.