Antonio Sola Townhouses

— DESCRIPTION BY Ambrosi | Etchegaray —

The buildings in Condessa, Mexico City, have special regulations surrounding the preservation of architectural heritage because of the history of the neighborhood.

The commission ask to design four living units on a site where a registered house with a historic facade was to be preserved. This condition inspired us to rethink life inside the old house and translate the schema into the new building.

The project's intention was to create interior spaces mimicking the original patios while maintaining privacy of these spaces from the other apartments. These patios allowed each apartment to be naturally lit and ventilated. Garden beds where also incorporated at the limits between the interior and the patios in order to incorporate the landscape within the architecture.

This process helped us understand how to treat a valued heritage with awareness and care and the result is an juxtaposition of memory and urban development.