WPP has announced it will create its first Campus in Brazil, bringing together the company’s 26 agencies and 7,000 people under one roof.
The WPP Campus in São Paulo is designed to meet the evolving needs of hybrid working and will enable greater innovation, creativity and collaboration between agencies, clients and partners.
The new building is a pioneering architectural concept devised by Brazilian architect Gustavo Utrabo that integrates sustainability, the local community and its natural surroundings. The 20,000m2 plot is located in Vila Leopoldina, a neighbourhood that has attracted start-ups and high-growth companies and is emerging as a creative hub in São Paulo. The construction is due for completion at the beginning of 2025.
Mark Read, CEO of WPP, said: “WPP’s São Paulo Campus will provide innovative spaces for increased collaboration and will act as a catalyst for world-class work in Brazil. With people and nature integrated into the heart of its design, our aim is for the space to be the creative destination within the city for our clients and the country’s most talented people.”
Stefano Zunino, WPP’s country manager for Brazil, said: “The new Campus is a milestone for WPP’s operations in Brazil. The space is designed to promote greater synergy and collaboration between our people, companies and the community, stimulating creativity and the development of innovative solutions for clients.
“This unique architectural project puts sustainability and wellbeing at its focus, addressing the evolving definitions and demands of the modern workplace.”
WPP São Paulo Campus
Embedding the Campus in the community
The São Paulo Campus project started in 2019 and was launched with an open competition to create a truly unprecedented workspace for the city. BDG architecture + design, owned by WPP, will lead the interior design of the Campus, complementing Utrabo’s unique architectural proposal.
The architect Utrabo said: “The building’s concept is inspired by the location where the Tietê and Pinheiros rivers meet, and the relationship between these rivers and the city’s inhabitants – between man and nature – and how this relationship can be rethought in a way that respects the local environment and its inhabitants.”
The five floors will be connected by walkways and staircases that will lead to large spaces and galleries connected to external areas, featuring collaborative workspaces on the balconies and terraces. In addition to an auditorium, the ground floor will be open to the public and will feature shops, cafés, restaurants and a large green area. The Campus will also have several other services available to WPP’s teams such as a gym.
The landscaping project was developed by the architect Raul Pereira and will incorporate more than 110 species of plants and trees native to the Atlantic Forest, reflecting the rich biodiversity of Brazil in the Campus’ more than 7,000m² of garden space.
In keeping with WPP’s commitment to achieve net zero across its operations by 2025, the building will seek the LEED Gold Certification for sustainability and will count on solar panels distributed on the Campus’ roof to power the structure with green energy.
The new space in São Paulo forms part of WPP’s global Campus strategy which will see over 65 Campuses around the world opened by 2025. When opened, the company’s first Campus in Brazil will join recently opened Campuses in Toronto, Prague, Milan, Detroit and London.