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Ibaté Building in Sao Paulo, Brazil tower

10 July 2025

Architectural Design: Studio Arthur Casas

Location: Vila Nova Conceição neighborhood, Moema -São Paulo, Brazil, South America

Photos: Fran Parente

Ibaté Building, Moema -São Paulo, Brazil

The Ibaté Building, designed by Studio Arthur Casas for the developer Cáucaso, is located on a corner lot in the Vila Nova Conceição neighborhood in São Paulo – a transition zone between the more densely built-up axis of the city and a residential, calm urban fabric.

This urban condition was fundamental to the site’s decisions and the building’s relationship with its surroundings, allowing the project to engage both with the vertical scale of the metropolis and the gentler flows of the neighborhood.

The design approach prioritizes spatial quality and integration with the urban environment, focusing on structural clarity, conscious use of materials, and enhancing common areas.

The building’s structure is fully exposed. The facades are made of structural concrete, without cladding. With a ribbed appearance and warm pigmentation, the material creates a solid, continuous visual identity, serving as a base for vertical landscaping, which is organically incorporated into the architecture and acts as a thermal and visual moderator.

The tower is placed on a longitudinal lot, with units organized in approximately 450 sqm floor plans. Each floor contains a single residential unit, clearly dividing the social, private, and service areas.

Circulation is through two elevator cores, and all units are designed with cross-ventilation, large openings to the exterior, and careful solar orientation. The front facade is completely open to a continuous terrace, with perimeter walkways on each unit, featuring alternating planters that shift position on each floor. This modulation prevents repetition between floors, introducing volumetric variation and natural shading. Aluminum guardrails with brass finish and large glass windows complete the building envelope.

At ground level, the transition between the city and the building is mediated by a generous, barrier-free area with landscaping and furniture.

Instead of a traditional closing, the project proposes a glazed “enclosure”, working as an open antechamber to the city while reinforcing transparency and the collective nature of common spaces. The pool, elevator hall, and a contemporary sculpture in corten steel by Túlio Pinto share the same environment, suggesting a functional and symbolic overlap between art, leisure, and circulation.

Inside, the material continuity is preserved with the extensive use of concrete, wood, glass, and metals with a warm finish. Elements like wood panels camouflage technical doors and organize the flow. The furniture curation includes pieces by renowned Brazilian modern and contemporary designers such as Jorge Zalszupin, Carlos Milan, Marcelo Magalhães, Guilherme Wentz, Lattoog, and Arthur Casas himself, with highlights like the Soft armchair (+55design) and the Square table (Herança Cultural).

Among the sustainable solutions incorporated, standout features include solar panels for pool heating, water reuse, and infrastructure for electric vehicle charging. Crossventilation and the integration of landscaping into the thermal and visual system further emphasize the environmentally efficient approach.

In this project, attention to design spans all scales, aiming to make the building a permanent and integrated element within the city. The Ibaté synthesizes a design strategy where structure, material, and function are coherently articulated.

Its contribution to the urban landscape lies in the combination of constructive rationality, spatial generosity, and a careful reading of the context, with a focus on using concrete as an integral architectural element and a support for a symbiotic relationship between architecture and landscape.