Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers

Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Exterior Photography, Facade
© Oscar Hernández

Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Interior Photography, Windows, HandrailFaculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Interior Photography, Stairs, Glass, Handrail, ConcreteFaculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Interior Photography, Glass, ConcreteFaculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Interior Photography, Stairs, HandrailFaculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - More Images+ 23

Mexico City, Mexico
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  21463 ft²
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2020
  • Photographs
    Photographs:Oscar Hernández
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  AutoDesk, dormakaba, Adobe Systems Incorporated, Aluvri, Apasco, Cimbramex, Hebel, Helvex, Lit House, PM Steel, Robert McNeel & Associates
  • Lead Architects: José Muñoz Villers
  • Design Team: Ricardo Ruíz, Daniela Sánchez, Ingrid Flores, Hugo Villalpando
  • Clients: Universidad La Salle
  • Structural Design: Ingenieros Civiles Nova
  • Facility Design: NLZ Instala
  • Lightning : Avant Group
  • Construction: Paredes y Asociados + Dinámica de Proyectos
  • General Supervision: Vicente Hinojosa, Oscar de la Torre, José Luis Durón
  • City: Mexico City
  • Country: Mexico
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Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Interior Photography, Glass, Concrete
© Oscar Hernández

Text description provided by the architects. Jose Munoz Villers completes the first of two educational buildings for La Salle University in Mexico City. Both the Faculty of Chemistry and the Research Center, located in the Condesa neighborhood at the urban campus of La Salle University are the result of two winning schemes presented at architectural competitions held in 2017 and 2018 respectively and belong to the masterplan to be completed by 2030.

Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Interior Photography, Stairs, Glass, Handrail
© Oscar Hernández
Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Image 19 of 28
Access plan
Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Interior Photography
© Oscar Hernández

The 2,000-square-meter faculty building stands alone on an independent site outside the main university campus.

Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Interior Photography, Stairs, Handrail
© Oscar Hernández
Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Image 20 of 28
1st floor plan
Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Interior Photography, Stairs, Glass, Handrail, Concrete
© Oscar Hernández

The sites urban context, orientation, geometry along with the FAR potential, specific seismic coefficients, program and architectural vision, translated into a slender building mass which attempts to reveal the construction process through its structural exposure and envelope´s layering. 

Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Exterior Photography, Concrete
© Oscar Hernández

The building connects with the ground through an urban vestibule which performs as an extension of the public space; that area is also designed to act as an extension of the regular classrooms to hold conferences or scientific-related exhibitions.  The ground floor vestibule features a grand stair which links to a more intimate hall on the first floor where administrative spaces are located.  A series of flying stairs running parallel to the building structure and facing an open space linking all the building levels are designed to experience the building from the exterior, connecting north to south and inside-out. 

Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Interior Photography, Facade
© Oscar Hernández

The building is designed to blur the limits between interior and exterior and enhances the dialogue between the architecture and itself with its context and the user. “The outside wall is no longer the first impression one gets of a building.  It is the interior, the spaces in depth and the structural frame which delineates them, that one begins to notice through the glass wall. Glass is noticeable yet not quite visible.  It is the great membrane, full of mystery delicate yet tough”.1  

Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Exterior Photography
© Oscar Hernández
Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Image 25 of 28
Longitudinal section
Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Exterior Photography, Facade
© Oscar Hernández

Fifteen seminar-oriented classrooms ranging from 30 to 40 student capacity are to accommodate 480 students and faculty members in 4 levels; the top of the building acts as an extension of the urban vestibule where cultural and academic events are programmed to occur.   Two hundred and fifty tons of structural steel with exposed columns, inverted V bracing, a double-skin facade comprised of an inner layer of lightweight concrete blocks, outer layer of insulated metal panels, insulating glass units at front façade, perforated metal sheet panels and reinforced concrete walls are the building tectonics which communicate an architectural, structural, spatial and program clarity and simplicity.

Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Interior Photography, Windows, Handrail
© Oscar Hernández

1 Beatriz Colomina´s X-Ray Architecture (Zurich: Lars Müller Publishers, 2019, page 136) quoting Arthur Korn, Glass in Modern Architecture (London: Barrie & Rockliff, 1967), page 6.

Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers - Exterior Photography
© Oscar Hernández

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Project location

Address:Tamaulipas 263, Colonia Condesa, Mexico City, Mexico

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Faculty of Chemistry and Biochemistry, La Salle University / José Muñoz Villers" [Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad La Salle Campus Central / José Muñoz Villers] 20 Jul 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/943682/faculty-of-chemistry-and-biochemistry-la-salle-university-jose-munoz-villers> ISSN 0719-8884

© Oscar Hernández

拉塞尔大学化学和生物化学学院 / José Muñoz Villers

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