To create a comprehensive solution for Alpargatas' headquarters, our mission began with understanding the new office dynamics and the company's business expansion phase. From this foundation, we developed the project's concept and carried it through to execution.

The brand previously operated in a decentralized headquarters, spread across thirteen separate and unconnected floors, with plans to consolidate into three floors in the new building. Our challenge was to design a project typology that could be both replicable and adaptable to the company's diverse users and its sub-brands, balancing art and technique.

As the headquarters evolved, it incorporated new spatial formats and requirements, such as flexible workstations, laboratories, a concept store, IT and meeting rooms, while also housing the sub-brands Havaianas, Osklen, Mizuno, and Dupé. We embraced this plurality of activities to enhance the experience of each sub-brand through the pillars of coworking (connected workstations), coliving (shared spaces), and comaking (collaborative environments).

This design approach enabled us to implement the Brain Office concept, optimizing and improving the quality of the workspace. The number of workstations transitioned from 500 to 373 in a fluid arrangement, organized into easily identifiable color-coded zones (blue, yellow, and green), each with distinctive furniture and interconnected by a honeycomb-patterned metal ceiling. Within these colored zones, we created intervals between workstations that function as multifunctional capsules—spaces for brand product displays, private phone booths, informal meeting areas, and greenery—bringing both programmatic and visual dynamism across all floors.

Aligned with new workplace trends, we introduced work units designed for versatile use, granting teams the autonomy to organize themselves as they see fit. To enhance usability, we alternated between open and enclosed areas, incorporating training spaces, meeting rooms, creative studios, a photography studio, an editorial store, marketing and communication areas, model-making spaces, social lounges, product exhibition islands, and more. This configuration allows employees to choose where and how they work based on their needs.

Material selection was guided by the pursuit of environmental quality and the brand’s Brazilian identity, emphasizing comfort and productivity. Natural textures such as wood, terrazzo, and recycled-material carpets were combined with biophilic elements and cutting-edge technology. Additionally, we integrated Brazilian-designed furniture and objects that stand out for both aesthetics and functionality.

The challenges we encountered were approached as opportunities for innovation. Strategically, we ensured that every detail of the project reflected the core values of Alpargatas: comfort, simplicity, sustainability, experimentation, technology, performance, and accessibility.