Design Director: Verónica González Zavala
Area: 13,530 sqft
Location: Mexico City
Year: 2017
Photography: Rafael Gamo, Jaime Navarro
— Description by vgz arquitectura y diseño —
Located at a complicated corner of Paseo de la Reforma, Piedra Sal was an important challenge because of the irregular-shaped space and its location on the first floor; we focused the design on the main access.
Two of the main challenges were time and budget, the project was delivered and achieved in 11 months, which allowed us to save in costs.
We decided to demolish the corner in order to generate a plaza and build two concrete walls as a support for the stairs block, composed of a wood, steel and glass lattice in facade, steps of wood plank and a steel hearth suspended between the facade lattice, the central lattice (handrail) and the back wainscoting. This way everything works as a structural and finishing system at the same time.
We designed a wooden box to invite the user to discover a large terrace, covered with a wooden pergola. The space opens to the trees on the street, to the sky and to a privileged view towards Paseo de la Reforma.
We used a monochromatic color-palette with all the materials in shades of gray and wood. The central bar was designed as the focal element with a brass design in gold shades, which changes the space perception depending on the light.
Everything was designed and manufactured especially for Piedra Sal, from the concrete floor in shades of gray, to the liana ceiling with a "Partridge Eye" pattern, combined with black clay lamps that provide elegance, generating a cool and cozy atmosphere.
We reuse the roof space; we generated a simple terrace making it a small viewpoint where the city views are the main attraction.