MONTECASINO 3

The building consists of 10 apartments where small and large apartments throughout it with 2 two-leveled penthouses. Right in the corner the building comes to an end with the help of terraces which open views and enhance the close angle of the piece of land. On the other hand the back façade is more closed because it is home to the private and service areas of the apartments. The main access to the building is marked by a concrete slab which extends from the limits of the building to the sidewalk, making it possible to preserve the building as a loose volume.

Vertical connections become aligned with the buildings main access, within the middle of each floor, making way to each apartment to have full access either from the elevator or the stairway, having a panoramic view to the outside. Every apartment has very high ceilings, which in addition to the openness of the façade provoke a feeling of expansion of the inner space beyond the physical limits of the building.

The north and east façade are more open, and composed by vertical concrete elements placed without a specific order. In the middle of these elements a green surface is created by a group of cables which allow climbing vines to grow from metallic bases located in some of the stories of the building. The south and west facades are more closed, creating an almost chaotic window-wall giving strength to its verticality.

HIGUERA + SANCHEZ 2004 -2007 Works

MONTECASINO 3, Col.Molino del Rey, Mexico City

Arq. Javier Sánchez Corral

Project Director/Architectural On-site Supervision: Mariana Paz Castellanos

Collaborators: Diana Elizalde, Juan Manuel Soler

Pictures: Mariana Paz, Jair Navarrete

VILLA HOLBOX

The island Holbox is located in the Yucatan Peninsula. Situated within a few meters from a National Park the project is a Self – Sufficient villa for 10 people. The project integrates a water treatment plant, wind power generators and solar panels. At the same time all the covered area from the cells it is used to collect water rain.

The materials try to create a minor ecological impact on the island. From the main structure of the arbor to the palapa’s structure are completely developed with bamboo – guada and covered with palm’s trees leaves. The orientation from each cell is directly related to the wind incidence creating spaces with natural crossed ventilations and protecting it from the hurricane season.

The Project is articulated by an arbor that is covering all the circulations creating a system that is protected from the sun incidence but at the same time remains opened to the exterior. The terraces are nothing more than the top of the arbor which increases the inner space from each cell. The project is suspended from the natural terrain 1mt, which helps to protect it from flooding during the rainy season. The founding also functions as a rain water storage which provides enough water during the whole year. This project will be culminated by the end of 2009.

HIGUERA + SANCHEZ 2004 -2007 Works
VILLA HOLBOX, Holbox, Yucatan

Arq. Javier Sánchez Corral

Project Director: Mariana Paz Castellanos
Collaborators: Diana Elizalde, Juan Manuel Soler
Renders: Mariana Paz Castellanos

External advisors: Raul de Villafranca, Arturo Romero

Villa Holbox-Reforma Entremuros Dic 2007

VERACRUZ 60

The Condesa and the Roma neighborhoods form an area that has been regenerated in this past years due to new buildings and remodeling activities. This is precisely the area in which this project is located. The front facade works with the use of mobile panels that serve as a protection for the windows, creating a dynamic plane made out of openings and walls, while the back of the building is much more static and has less openings offers privacy to the rooms of each apartment.

The building houses 5 apartments with inverted schemes, allowing a two-story high space in all the public areas. An elevator stands in the middle of the building, that with the incorporation of the stairs form the vertical circulations. This configuration makes a difference in the condition of each space without sacrificing any of the apartments keeping the building within the limits of the height allowed in the area.
HIGUERA + SANCHEZ 2004 -2007 Works
VERACRUZ 60, Col. Roma Norte, Mexico City
Arq. Javier Sánchez Corral

Project Director/Model: Mariana Paz Castellanos
Collaborators: Juan Manuel Soler
Renders: Alejandro Ita

DANTE 7

Located in the Colonia Anzures, in Mexico City, this project takes advantage of the lot’s rectangulargeometry, placing 2 volumes divided by an internal patio which opens in an irregular way from one side to the other.The two buildings are connected through a bridge that contains the vertical circulations. The complex consists of 17 apartments in a mixture of duplexes and triplexes which combine terraces and inner patios. The project takes advantage of the lot’s geometry creating a cut in the front building enclosed by a black concrete wall which combines its structural properties with the composition of the facade.

Interior facades relate by the combination of solids and openings which respond to the interiors. The closed figure in the facade covers two apartments which find ventilation and light through an enclosed terrace that divides the space between the building and the concrete wall. Each and every window emphasizes onprivacy avoiding the same positioning throughout the facade, even in the cases where this seems inevitable, where windows find a screen made from various materials, like louvers, or white glass, which allow natural light avoiding crossed views.

HIGUERA + SANCHEZ 2004 -2007 Works

DANTE 7, Col. Anzures, Mexico City

Arq. Javier Sánchez Corral

Project Director: Mariana Paz Castellanos

Collaborators: Diana Elizalde, Ana Luna, Enrique Salazar, Daniela Sainz, Juan M Soler

Renders: Alejandro Ita