As architects, we are inspired to make the most of the pre-existing infrastructure of our city. This led us to design U125, which recycles a house located in Lomas de Chapultepec and was originally built in the 50s.
We saw the potential of this building and had the vision to convert it into our firm’s headquarters; we preserved the house, giving it added value and a cutting-edge look.
The house that originally contained 300 sqm in 3 levels was intervened, transformed and extended. Today it hosts an office program with 604 sqm in 4 levels plus a terrace.
To consider the heritage value of the house was the guideline for our design process. We respected the proportions, openings, access and volume preserving its original essence, achieving harmony between the pre-existing space and our intervention.
Three metal-plate roofs refer to the proportions of the house below, and a metal mesh, tensioned between these roofs, give the building its discrete, clean and elegant look, while at night time, the lighting reveals its more complex characteristic—its history.
Inside, at every level, we selected different pieces of art concerned with the fact that we wanted our work space to exhibit the talent of several artists, specifically Mexican.
In the first level and upper levels we created terraces for the coexistence and recreation of our team. These spaces are used daily to eat, live and work in open spaces overlooking the city.
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As architects, we are inspired to make the most of the pre-existing infrastructure of our city. This led us to design U125, which recycles a house located in Lomas de Chapultepec and was originally built in the 50s.
We saw the potential of this building and had the vision to convert it into our firm’s headquarters; we preserved the house, giving it added value and a cutting-edge look.
The house that originally contained 300 sqm in 3 levels was intervened, transformed and extended. Today it hosts an office program with 604 sqm in 4 levels plus a terrace.
To consider the heritage value of the house was the guideline for our design process. We respected the proportions, openings, access and volume preserving its original essence, achieving harmony between the pre-existing space and our intervention.
Three metal-plate roofs refer to the proportions of the house below, and a metal mesh, tensioned between these roofs, give the building its discrete, clean and elegant look, while at night time, the lighting reveals its more complex characteristic—its history.
Inside, at every level, we selected different pieces of art concerned with the fact that we wanted our work space to exhibit the talent of several artists, specifically Mexican.
In the first level and upper levels we created terraces for the coexistence and recreation of our team. These spaces are used daily to eat, live and work in open spaces overlooking the city.
Mexico City
Mexico
ARCHETONIC
11/2016
604 m2
Jacobo Micha Mizrahi + Jaime Micha Balas
Ernesto Rossell Zanotelli, Jessica Steiner Durán, Désirée Gómez Córdova.
ARCHETONIC
ontes de Oca Ingenieros Consultores
Interbrax, Kone, Vitro canceles, Vitra-Ofita.
RAFAEL GAMO, YOSHIHIRO KOITANI
Curriculum
ARCHETONIC is a creative architecture practice that is guided by instinct and trusts in the skills of its entire team, which combines experience with young talent. We have assembled a portfolio of over 80 built residential, commercial, tourist and office projects since our beginnings in 1991, and the firm’s national and international prizes attest to the quality of our work.
