Project Description
This apartment building by Dellekamp Arquitectos is located in Benito Juárez, Mexico City. It was conceived of as a housing development for young, middle-class families. The main premise of the project was to design an economical structure that could also offer above-average materials and spaces.
Each apartment is divided into two modules, one containing the living room, dining room, and service core, and the second containing a room with a closet and bathroom. The project was stitched together with options to have one, two or three bedroom apartments. The apartments facing the street receive an exterior balcony, while interior units are offered a roof terrace.
The project aims for a very clear integration between space and structure. All of the materials are used in order to emphasize their plastic qualities. The layout of the apartment units also creates a clear articulation of structural systems and materials. The double-height central circulation, which is designed to bring additional daylight into center the center of the building, is built with a metal structure and vaulted brick ceilings. Near the circulation are the service spaces, kitchens, bathrooms and washrooms, which are made of load-bearing concrete walls and a solid slab of concrete for installations. And finally, at the front and rear facades are double-height rooms which are built of concrete walls and vaulted brick ceilings.
Perhaps the most recurrent theme that emerged in the design process was the need to achieve material honesty by embracing a set of clearly articulated material systems: brick vaults, concrete walls, terrazzo floors, and railings and walls made of laminated wood.