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Architects: Esencial Studio
- Area: 1969 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:César Béjar
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Lead Architects: Sebastián Montalvo Millet, Esteban Hernandez Martín
Text description provided by the architects. Located in the Montes de Amé neighborhood, the building seeks a proposal for densification of the area, choosing a medium scale, which with five levels relates to its immediate context in a friendly way while seeking to be a model replicated in the rest of the neighborhood. At the same time, the building integrates two commercial units that serve both the housing units and the users of the rest of the colony.
On the ground floor, understood as the public area, the commercial area unfolds with a setback from the existing wall, providing a respite to the surrounding housing environment in which it is immersed, inviting users in a friendly manner. The reception is understood as a vertical element that freely connects the circulations of the 5 upper levels.
The upper levels are understood as residential areas, in which the apartments grow in size as they are located on higher levels. Having apartments consisting of one to three bedrooms.
The intention of including commerce in the building fulfilled its purpose when occupied by a local café and food market that serve the colony and its surroundings. In real estate terms, it sought to position itself as a housing complex inhabited by few tenants, with spacious apartments and different programs. This mix of typologies fostered interaction between families, resulting in a positive relationship.
Taking "skin as structure or structure as skin" as a discourse resulted in the development of the building in terms of both function and formality. The structure is an element that is usually hidden at first glance, however, in this case, it is the element that allows us to constructively execute the project. Our stance in this project is to give importance to the structure, turning it into the identity of the building and highlighting its beauty.
The concept of the terrace as our context is essential in vertical housing, privatizing the exterior, filtering the passage of sunlight, and reducing heat transmission to the interior. The design process reaches its climax in the creation of the terrace, which is delimited and hidden within the same structure. The building itself, dressed with the structure, consisting of commerce, housing, and terraces, contributes to a rhythmic and elegant image of the urban landscape of the area.
