Concrete Apartment Building in Mexico City by Taller Hector Barroso.

You can’t help but feel totally at ease and uplifted when you come across a project as remarkable as this one. This terracotta-toned dream located in Mexico City’s Colonia del Valle district is the work of Taller Hector Barroso who brought us Entrepinos Housing comprising of five monolithic holiday homes surrounded by forest.

For this development entitled LC710, the architects had far less room to play with and were faced with the added challenge of a long and narrow site. The building contains six apartments over four stories vertically and three volumes horizontally. Open-air courtyards separate the volumes, allowing each building to breathe. Staircases that bridge these voids are partitioned with thin steel members or are monolithic with only their bottom profiles apparent – a lovely design touch that’s become the studio’s signature.

The first volume houses communal spaces for four apartments. The kitchen, living and dining rooms are arranged around sweeping curved balconies that frame large street trees. The second volume is more introspective and closed off containing three bedrooms and two bathrooms. The last two apartments are arranged over two levels in the third volume each enjoying views away from the street edge. The clever spatial arrangement enables each apartment to enjoy privacy, outdoor space and the same nourishing warmth with light pouring into internal spaces.

Interior spaces are inherently joyous. Aged brass metalwork and dark honeyed timber joinery both compliment and soften the brutalist use of concrete. Exposed curved ceilings with cast-in lights work to interrupt the concrete mass and reinforce the longitudinal nature of the site.

If it wasn’t exceedingly obvious by now, these guys certainly know how to work their earthy tones!

The building both inside and out has been encased in coloured concrete with tinted aggregate resembling warm ochre and pale timber. Beyond aesthetics, concrete was selected for its durability and ability to withstand Mexico City’s intense humidity.

In a time when multi-residential developments tend to be run-of-the-mill or just plain uninspiring, this project emerges as a paradigm of ingenuity. It stands as a reminder that we should use honest materials, employ good spatial planning and allow spaces to breathe. Instead of squeezing the floor plate to an inch of its life, Taller Hector Barroso has created a little sanctuary within a dense urban area. Incredible work!