Article source: LEAP Laboratorio en Arquitectura Progresiva
West Point Convenience Center is a retail venue and the most visible component of a mixed use development located on the westside of Guadalajara. The master plan of the complex is comprised of eight high-rise vertical housing buildings in a gated community with inner pedestrian walkways, a park and controlled access points. The retail venue, although it is an integral part of the master plan, is at the forefront of the complex outside the gated community and with large green areas on both sides of the building. The preeminent location of the building within the master plan and its relationship with the public avenue demands an architectural approach to give the building an iconic presence. It is important to highlight that the Convenience Center will be also a focal point from the views of the eight apartment buildings on the background, and therefore the design of the roof was as important as the design of the main facades at street level. The result is a triangular faceted architectural object with two wide openings at each end where the second level restaurants are located and a screen that randomly becomes more transparent towards the center of the building. The complexity of the geometry of this element contrast with the seemingly simple geometry of the first floor, both bodies are articulated through the rhythm of the columns. The construction material proposed for the upper body of the building is Cor-Ten steel, a material that naturally covers itself of protective rust, making it a maintenance free material. Three steel chimneys contrast with the rusty look of the building and are the exhaust ducts of the restaurants inside the Convenience Center.
In a complicated corner formed by Mexico-Toluca highway and Juan Salvador Agraz street, in the western zone of Mexico City, we were commissioned to design a business hotel with a strong presence to stand out from other hotels on the same street.
Several volumetric exercises were done and we decided to pursue a very sober building with a strong hotel character, at the same time taking care of all the technical aspects to ensure that the hotel was possible in a very noisy Santa Fe area because of the presence of the highway.
Designed by Francisco Pardo Arquitecto, the Apan Prototype is part of the project “Del Territorio al Habitante” (“From the Territory to the Inhabitant”). This research program, promoted by INFONAVIT (Housing Institute of Mexico) through the Investigation Center for Sustainable Development (CIDS), seeks toimprove the quality of rural-housing and assisted self-construction in the Mexican territory.
The project, which includes experimental proposals by several architectural studios, inspired the creation of aHousing Laboratory in Apan, Hidalgo (Mexico), where 32 housing prototypes were built with the purpose of studying social housing in specific local contexts throughout different regions of Mexico.
Among the others, the systemic prototype by Francisco Pardo Arquitecto is intended to be developed in various rural sites of the municipality of Panotla, in the state of Tlaxcala (Mexico) and is made up of several parts, related through a set of rules and procedures that keep them together and regulate their collective functioning.
After the Agrarian Reform, hard-to-work land in Nuevo León, specially on the southern part of the state, is given to ejido communities. Since then there has been a disconnect between the state’s capital and ejido communities. After the election of a governor from the south efforts to bring infrastructure and socially inclusive programs that will look after these communities has started. One of these efforts is the creation of the Regional Centre at Galeana which will work as a community space for courses and workshops as well as gathering space for the region.
Given the size of the land, the site is subdivided with linear buildings that act as planes that configure human-scale courtyards. These dialogue with the topography generating a sequence of patios and plazas. Since there wasn’t a certainty that we would design the whole of the project we decided to create a simple system that could be easily understood and replicated in the following phases. The system consists on a play of solid volumes that house the specific program and service spaces, and tectonic elements that house the main and flexible spaces.
Avenida Central is the most beautiful street in the city not only because of the annual blossoming of its big Jacaranda trees but also because of its avant-garde urbanism. Developed in the late 60’s, Chapultepec Norte neighborhood is located 3km east of downtown Morelia and contrasting with the colonial urbanism and architecture of the historic center, some Modern ideas were stated in this area. However, the uniqueness of this street comes from its wide sidewalks and its thick landscape parkway, two important concepts that slows traffic and create an environment suitable for pedestrians and bicycles.
For us, architecture was an excuse to revalue these urban concepts and include other ideas of the ‘New Urbanism’ through a mixed-use building.
15-level tower with residential apartments located in Querétaro. The project arises from the idea of making the most of its location since being on the top of a hill, it has spectacular scenery of the city of Querétaro. Therefore, the architectural response seeks to frame this view through a volume that contains the amenities for public use and thus provide an unforgettable experience to all the people who visit the building.
His house is located in a subdivision to the west of Mexico City. Its solution responds to a very strict regulation, which establishes limits of height and land occupation. Thus, the house is a quadrangular prism that occupies the total allowed area with its spaces organized around terraces and a double-height atrium roofed by a concrete pergola. This atrium contains a floating steel and wood staircase. Coated with wood and travertine marble, the atrium acquires a different character at different times of the day; sunlight filters through the pergola and ignites the space with warm colour reflections.
The project foresees the opportunity to use reinterpretation as a consistent creative tool. By mimicking orientation strategy and a very simple functional diagram, the new construction relinks to the notion of history and accustomed-living behavior patterns. Open space allow direct sun light to enter from the south side, east and west side are offset inner plot, so only north side is at property line. The idea is to transit from a 2,754 sq.ft. Old construction to a 1,937 sq.ft. one, mainly same program, roughly different space quality experience.
The Deloitte Excellence Centar has an approximate area of 5,000 sq m in Torre Diana in Mexico City. The program was structured to fully meet the needs of operating a training center for all staff. It is divided in two levels which are linked by a large space, a staircase that can also function as an open forum for 600 people.
It has twelve meeting rooms for twelve people each, a bistro, six Deloitte University halls and two \”Green Houses\”. All these spaces are intended to operate efficiently for the successful training of more than 1200 people daily both from Mexico and other countries. At the top is the boardroom of the group, a dining room for 400 people and twelve technical classrooms.
The main target of this project was creating a space with style and materials that transcend over the years, creating wide open spaces to enjoy the privileged views from each area of the apartment. A specific requirement of the client was to optimize the whole apartment in order to generate areas that are always useful and an architectural program allowing every corner to be lived.
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