New York, May 2, 2012 – Richard Meier & Partners is proud to announce their first project in South America. The new Leblon Offices will be a sustainable and state-of-the-art building in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The new office building located in the Leblon neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, will be the iconic new international headquarters for VINCI Partners in Brazil. The design scheme consists primarily of open office spaces and a series of terraces which open up and create a direct connection with the urban artery of Av. Bartolomeu Mitre.

The building will consist of 10 floors for a total height of 25 meters with a leasable floor area of 6,500 m². A generous lobby will anchor the building to a recessed open retail plaza and a three-story underground structure that will provide additional leasable spaces and private parking.

Design Partner-in-charge Bernhard Karpf comments: “We are delighted to unveil our first project in Brazil and we are honored to contribute to the modern architecture that is part of the cultural life of Rio de Janeiro. Each element of the building’s organization reflects an ambitious focus on sustainable architecture and in the innovative use of efficient materials and construction solutions. We hope the new building is not only sustainable and efficient, but also the best working environment in the neighborhood of Leblon.”

The design of the office building with its refined formal vocabulary reflects the distinct orientation of the site while addressing issues of sustainability, maximum efficiency and flexibility. The entire building will be recessed from the urban frontage and masked with a carefully composed set of louvers designed for both maximum sun shading and privacy retention to the west. On the east, the building has been pulled away from its neighbors to create an internal courtyard and provide natural day lighting on two exposures for all office spaces. This void creates a generous vertical garden that ties back into a rough and refined exposed architectural concrete core which services the building. The entire project straddles between the refined precision of a white aluminum and glass, free-plan office and the roughness of concrete and vegetation within the courtyard and is reconciled by an illuminated glass bridge.

Richard Meier & Partners’ design role is to fulfill a vision for a successful, high-end office space with a project that will become a significant architectural contribution to Rio de Janeiro, respecting Brazil’s rich architectural heritage while simultaneously exploring preconceived notions of indoor and outdoor spaces and the building’s relationship and access to the city that surrounds it.

The office building is expected to receive LEED-silver certification.