Vodafone offices in Porto by Guimarães Barbosa Architects

Located on the Avenida da Boavista, Porto, the headquarters of Vodafone in Portugal have been designed by Portuguese architect António José Guimarães Pedro Barbosa and has been following the best-known slogan of the company: “Life is mobile, mobile it is Vodafone. ”
The office buildings are usually designed from the straight line and the orthogonality of rational connotations. But in this case, Guimarães Barbosa architects have created a unique and dangerous building “movement” that seems a challenge to balance and stability. In his words: “We believe the building should be faithful to this idea, adopting a dynamic image, expressing the sense of movement, challenging the laws of statics.”
Not only has formalized the concept of motion in the outward appearance, but the irregular volume also presents a structure of great technical complexity. The building adopts a peripheral structural solution is supported by a “shell” outside of concrete, which reduces the internal needs of supporting two staircases and three central pillars. This structure has also allowed for great versatility of use indoors, endless variations and irregular angular spaces beautifully resolved.
The building has 8 floors in total, three of which are underground. On the ground floor is the auditorium, the Vodafone store with a facade to the Avenida da Boavista, cafeteria and main entrance to the offices. The four upper floors housed offices plants themselves, who have organized with distribution open-space. In the concourse have been at the technical areas and training, while 2 and 3 cellars house two floors of parking.