When recovering the existing buildings, a master plan was developed around the large central swimming pools facing the sea and a large oblique building providing simultaneous visuals towards the Bay of San Lucas and El Arco de Los Cabos.
The main structure of six floors governs the design for multifunctional use of the free plant, provoking relations between the parts of the whole housing 170 hotel rooms. The building rises to filter the landscape between grooves and incisions in the ground.
The design process included a workshop at the site with some of the consultants and people of the firm who would be in charge of the Project. When we first visited the site we were captivated by the horizontal view towards the Arch at the tip of the Cape. There was a beautiful rock formation at the end of the bay and a couple of natural creeks with tropical vegetation carrying down rainwater to the ocean from the contrasting desert landscape of the mountains behind us.
We immediately thought of building a free standing structure that could embrace that experience for the hotel guests, something like a giant umbrella, allowing the breeze to run through, creating shadow, lowering the temperature, something similar to the experience of a beach tent. This open ground floor would serve also as an intensive happening space, connected to the Thompson vibe, the creation of an urban experience overlooking the Sea of Cortez.
We envisioned a black concrete structure, inspired by the color of the rock formation at the surf break. The hotel rooms would sit above this structure, and above them a roof top bar would crown the building with all views open to the Cape.
Underneath the ground floor structure, the topography of the site would bring you down into the beach through a transition of terraces and lookout points creating a rich narrative of spaces. Hidden behind and below the structure, the spa, would be discovered following a sequence of dark corridors to tone down the senses arriving into an intimate experience and increasing the connection to the sound of the ocean.
The program includes: a restaurant from Enrique Olvera, four bars, two pools, a spa, screening room, lounge and library, retail among many others.
During the construction process we had to stop for two months because of Hurrican Odile (September 2014). The dividing walls that had been placed collapsed and some elements on the façade were ripped off by the storm, the main crane bended and fell over the building.
Cabo San Lucas Baja California Sur
Mexico
Vertex Playa Monumentos
07/2015
20000 m2
Javier Sánchez, Benedikt Fahlbusch
Fernando Castro, Roberto Ledezma, Francisco Martínez, Tadeo Ángeles, Ulises Solís, Héctor Moreno
Grupo Beck
Interior Design: Arquitectura de Interiores, Acoustics: Saad Acústica, Engineering: M3 Ingeniería Landscape: Taller de Operaciones Ambientales, Lighting: Lighteam
Curriculum
JSª is an architecture firm created in 1996. Headed by Architect Javier Sánchez, founding partner and director of the architecture workshop, it began as a key firm to recover the historical neighborhoods of the city, among them Colonia Condesa and Mexico City’s Historic Downtown. Today, the firm has built 80 projects of different types in Mexico and abroad.The work of the firm focuses on 3 main axes: urban acupuncture done through punctual and integrated architectural interventions, social housing, and renewal of the architectural patrimony in its dialogue with current interventions. Its most outstanding projects are Veracruz Complex, Condesa df Hotel, Soriano Museum and Cultural Center, Hotel Carlota, Carlos Monisváis Personal Library. JSª has a young team of more than 70 persons specializing in architecture and real estate development. In 2010, JSª opened an office in Peru, follow up on several projects he has been developing in the capital city.
