VAN GOGH and MODEL BRANCH
São Paulo / SP / Brazil
ABN AMRO was established in Brazil in 1917, having now over 28,500 employees maintaining 5400 branches and mini-branches servicing 9.7 million retail clients and over 3,500 corporate clients, including 400 of the largest corporations in Brazil, being the fifth largest privately owned bank by total assets and the second largest foreign bank in the country. Since 1998 ABN AMRO has been acquiring local banks such as Banco Real, Bandepe and Sudameris. The corporate culture of ABN AMRO in Brazil includes initiatives such as: social-environmental policy when making decisions on loans, the ?Real MicroCrédito? (providing financing for small businesses and entrepreneurs) and the implementation of the Ethical Fund (the first Social Responsible Investment fund in Brazil).
As part of a renewed focus on wealth management worldwide, Van Gogh Preferred Banking was also launched in Brazil, a service for the mass affluent segment. The new service, inspired by the passion and originality of the great Dutch post-impressionist painter, offers a fresh and invigorating approach to banking. Van Gogh Preferred Banking?s core philosophy is to listen and understand its clients' needs, provide unbiased, objective and professional advice and design wealth management solutions to help them meet their financial objectives. ABN AMRO Van Gogh Preferred Banking clients enjoy a range of unique services such as dedicated Relationship Managers, Investment Consultants, Product Specialists and access to the international network of ABN AMRO.
The design theme and color spectrum are the works of Van Gogh, of course. The design objective is to meet business objectives of bringing a different customer experience to the clients, and similar identity worldwide for the Van Gogh Brand, making the client feel at home in any of the exclusive Van Gogh Preferred Banking lounges he has access to worldwide. After adapting the international design model to the Brazilian market, we were called to design the Van Gogh Branch within the Employees Model Branch at the Brazilian Corporate Headquarters in São Paulo. This was an opportunity to test the adaptations that were implemented by the Bank?s specs team and prepare the final specs for further implementation of the Van Gogh concept in other branches throughout the country. Simultaneously the Model Branch was renovated. The biggest challenge is to adapt the requirements of a branch to a building that was designed for office use. The expansion of the branch, required by the introduction of the specific van Gogh space required the relocation of another corporate branch and other offices, involving a project area of 850 square meters to implement a branch of 450 square meters.
