Leveraging the Environmental Potential of Existing Buildings: Retrofit of Google Engineering Center in São Paulo, Brazil
Abstract
Leveraging the Environmental Potential of Existing Buildings: Retrofit of the Google Engineering Center in São Paulo, Brazil.
As part of a larger partnership with IPT (Institute for Technological Research), based in São Paulo, Brazil, a global technology company is repurposing a historical building of their campus, meeting contemporary building standards but also ensuring that news spaces meet both business needs and the community agenda. Following an internal national design competition, the final IPT retrofit project capitalised on the inherent strengths of the existing 1940s building, characterized by its passive environmental qualities, in the subtropical climate of Sao Paulo. The narrow floor plates, openable windows and exposed thermal mass provided a strong foundation for a design strategy that retained these assets while elevating the building’s environmental performance. This paper aims to demonstrate how environmental design principles, reinforced through a cyclical process of simulation and optimisation, can deliver a high-performance, low-energy workplace in the context of refurbishment. Located within a green campus, the project also reinforced connections to its setting, with new entrances and circulation routes improving the relationship between workplace and landscape. Extensive environmental simulations played a central role in guiding the design, testing daylight, thermal comfort and solar exposure across multiple iterations. The optimisation process was cyclical, with results feeding back into successive stages to refine both the architectural design and environmental strategies. Key outcomes included strategically placed external shading devices, exposed ceilings and adapted layouts that balanced performance with design intent. Adaptive thermal comfort models enabled the project to challenge conventional setpoints, demonstrating that natural ventilation could be maintained for much of the year, with 70% of occupied hours below 26 °C and 85% below 28 °C, thereby reducing reliance on air conditioning. These extended setpoints are complementary to a contemporary working culture, by broadening the definition of the office workspace, which is facilitated through the creation of multiple functional spaces and their associated diverse internal environmental conditions. Daylight analysis further confirmed high performance, with an annual sDA300lux above 75% and a glare probability below 5% in most occupied spaces. By combining the passive strengths of the existing structure with a simulation-driven optimisation process, the project illustrates how refurbishment can preserve architectural heritage while meeting ambitious performance targets for comfort and efficiency. This paper demonstrates how a real-life project, to be opened in the first half of 2026, can successfully deliver contemporary office environments by recognising the virtues of the existing building, combining environmental design, user experience and architectural identity holistically.
As part of a larger partnership with IPT (Institute for Technological Research), based in São Paulo, Brazil, a global technology company is repurposing a historical building of their campus, meeting contemporary building standards but also ensuring that news spaces meet both business needs and the community agenda. Following an internal national design competition, the final IPT retrofit project capitalised on the inherent strengths of the existing 1940s building, characterized by its passive environmental qualities, in the subtropical climate of Sao Paulo. The narrow floor plates, openable windows and exposed thermal mass provided a strong foundation for a design strategy that retained these assets while elevating the building’s environmental performance. This paper aims to demonstrate how environmental design principles, reinforced through a cyclical process of simulation and optimisation, can deliver a high-performance, low-energy workplace in the context of refurbishment. Located within a green campus, the project also reinforced connections to its setting, with new entrances and circulation routes improving the relationship between workplace and landscape. Extensive environmental simulations played a central role in guiding the design, testing daylight, thermal comfort and solar exposure across multiple iterations. The optimisation process was cyclical, with results feeding back into successive stages to refine both the architectural design and environmental strategies. Key outcomes included strategically placed external shading devices, exposed ceilings and adapted layouts that balanced performance with design intent. Adaptive thermal comfort models enabled the project to challenge conventional setpoints, demonstrating that natural ventilation could be maintained for much of the year, with 70% of occupied hours below 26 °C and 85% below 28 °C, thereby reducing reliance on air conditioning. These extended setpoints are complementary to a contemporary working culture, by broadening the definition of the office workspace, which is facilitated through the creation of multiple functional spaces and their associated diverse internal environmental conditions. Daylight analysis further confirmed high performance, with an annual sDA300lux above 75% and a glare probability below 5% in most occupied spaces. By combining the passive strengths of the existing structure with a simulation-driven optimisation process, the project illustrates how refurbishment can preserve architectural heritage while meeting ambitious performance targets for comfort and efficiency. This paper demonstrates how a real-life project, to be opened in the first half of 2026, can successfully deliver contemporary office environments by recognising the virtues of the existing building, combining environmental design, user experience and architectural identity holistically.
