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Architects: Taller Verde Arquitectura
- Area: 464 m²
- Year: 2021
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Photographs:Manolo R Solis
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Manufacturers: CELAYUSA, COP, ESSA, Helvex, MIDO, Rotoplas
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Lead Architects: Misael Marín, Cintia Estrada
Text description provided by the architects. The warehouse is an example of architectural upcycling which philosophy transforms the conception of waste and reincorporates it into the useful life cycle. “Nature does not know the concept of waste; the only species capable of doing something that no one desires is the human species.” Gunter Pauli.
Located in a neighborhood where land use changed due to real estate development, it went from housing workshops and warehouses to becoming an area of high added value for residential developments. The project arises from the need to build a rest house, and the opportunity to intervene in an industrial warehouse belonging to the client.
The social area is developed on an open plan with virtual delimiters based on steel beams and a central pond that both vestibule and give scale to the project. The private area is sheltered behind a linear garden that provides privacy to the rooms. The use of raw materials emphasizes the industrial character of the project and through the selection of vegetation and clay pots, it is possible to transmit spatial warmth.
Elements resulting from the dismantling of the original warehouse were reused and transformed as doors, lamps, and decorative elements; as well as the use of concrete cylinders considered waste material in resistance tests of materials laboratories.
Through a set of passive and active techniques, comfort and energy efficiency were achieved. Natural light from the west was intentionally introduced through the opening of large vertical openings directed towards corridors. The façade is preceded by reforested terraces that act as a thermal barrier and filter the light. Towards the interior, the inclusion of gardens and water, as well as the thermal insulation of the roof, made it possible to control the temperature. The southern slope of the nave roof was used for the placement of solar panels and the collection of water for irrigation.
It is through the preservation and intervention of the existing structure that it is possible to revitalize the building and thus reduce the impact of the carbon footprint that demolition and new construction would have generated.
