Nora Sanchez
06/27/2021 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
Cities
Updated 06/27/2021 10:58 AM
In February 2020, the Uruguayan company that manages the OH!
La Barra de Punta del Este, won the tender and was left with the concession of the
former Buenos Aires Design
.
His plans: make
OH!
Buenos Aires
, the entertainment center that the City lacked.
A month later, the coronavirus pandemic was installed on the agenda and the quarantine began.
At Hatzlajá SA, the new concessionaire, they saw this health emergency as an opportunity.
To
build an "anti Covid" entertainment, shopping and gastronomy center
from scratch
.
Starting with compliance with one of the basic points of the protocol to prevent contagion of any type of virus: having
natural ventilation
.
The background is clear.
When all the other shopping malls were closed, the Arcos District was able to reopen earlier and continue working because all its stores face an open space, outdoors.
The former Buenos Aires Design, today.
The plan is to transform it into an open building with natural ventilation.
Photo Lucia Merle
The architect Gabriel Levy, from the Hatzlajá developer group and manager of the OH!
Buenos Aires tells: "The pandemic made us rethink the project and its sustainability.
We have planned an open building.
We created four patios that communicate from the terrace of the Recoleta Cultural Center to the basement, so all levels have
drafts and natural ventilation.
There will be no central air conditioning. "
The current state of the former Buenos Aires Design property, in the Recoleta neighborhood.
Photo Lucia Merle
And he adds: "The project has already been approved by Heritage. And we have just presented it to the General Directorate of Urban Interpretation of the City Government. We estimate that the permitting process will take us three months and that
the work could begin between last quarter of this year and the first of next
".
The project was designed by the studio Bodas, Miani, Anger (BMA).
The main change with respect to the original project is that, instead of making a skylight, they will leave the central part of the building without a roof.
Thus, its two floors, basement and terrace will be airy spaces.
"When it rains,
the water will enter and reach the subsoil
, where there will be vegetation and trees that will receive it. And that water will recirculate," explains Levy.
The Buenos Aires Design shopping mall closed in December 2019. Photo Lucía Merle
The public will walk through roofed spaces, but
naturally ventilated
because all will give that other great open space.
In Hatzlajá they like to say that it will be a
"Covid free" building
.
In addition, it will have thermal cameras, controls and hand washing stations.
From the original plan, the idea of making
a large glazed access
, similar to that of the Louvre Museum or the Apple store in New York
, is preserved
.
The shopping and entertainment center OH!
Buenos Aires will be in an open building with natural ventilation.
"A structural modification will be made to the building, but
the concept of the project remains intact
. It will be a commercial center for the family, with entertainment, gastronomy and some
retail
. And the building where the Hard Rock Café is going to be for coworking. The idea is to create a synergy between coworking and the services of the shopping center, "anticipates Levy.
The building where the Hard Rock Café used to be is going to be used for coworking.
Photo Lucia Merle
The
main
gastronomy
sector
will be on
the terrace
, the same location that it had when it was the Buenos Aires Design.
Although there will be more businesses in the area distributed in the building, which will have a total of 100 commercial premises.
Where the auditorium used to be, there will be
mechanical games, virtual reality and e-gaming
.
On the other hand, a sector will be destined to
a market of 1,500 m2
.
And there will be
600 garages
.
The new shopping and entertainment center will have a 1,500 m2 market.
Photo Lucia Merle
"On the one hand, the pandemic
improved the concept
, on the other we had delays for working remotely. But we were able to meet the times," says Levy.
The building that occupied the Buenos Aires Designa as it is today.
Photo Lucia Merle
This is
an investment of 13 million dollars
.
The company, according to Levy, expects to inaugurate a first stage in
July of next year
, with the gastronomic walk on the terrace, the coworking building and the entertainment center of the auditorium completed.
The second stage would be enabled in July 2023, with the two lower levels.
"30% of the premises are already reserved,"
says Levy.
On June 18, Hatzlajá and the Buenos Aires government signed the contract for the transfer of the shopping center.
The award was signed for the next 15 years, with an option for another 5.
The company will pay $ 5,779,220 million monthly.
From conventional shopping to "bioclimatic building".
That is Hatzlajá's plan for the former Buenos Aires Designa.
Photo Lucia Merle
"We believe that
the pandemic worked in our favor, because it allowed us to rethink the project
, it gave us time to design it day by day, when others have to adapt completely," says Levy. "And we like the way it looks better. a closed building, but a bioclimatic one, with lots of green ".