Ozuluama Residence
Architects Collective & at.103

Photo: Wolfgang Thale

The new roof top appears like a nomadic structure floating above the diverse urban topography of Mexico City.

The Ozuluama Residence is located in the Condesa district in the heart of Mexico City. Created at the beginning of the 20th century around what was once a racetrack, the area is today a unique and vibrant neighborhood with a array of different styles, including a couple of projects by Luis Barragán, several modernist buildings and some contemporary architecture, including the polyhedral home of architect Juan José Díaz Infante.

The project consists of a penthouse with two terraces and a lookout, on top of an existing 3-story building. The owners inhabit the penthouse six months of the year, the rest of the time it is used by friends, visitors and artists that stay in the city.


Photo: Wolfgang Thale

The structure was designed to reflect the movements of its transient inhabitants in an origami-like morphology. The folding dynamic form creates a seemingly temporary habitat with continuous inside and outside spaces on two levels and generous views of the city.


Photo: Wolfgang Thale

Photo: Wolfgang Thale

Photo: Wolfgang Thale

The building's skeleton is made of steel and is completely enveloped in pearl-grey acrylic-polymer Corian panels, the first time this material was used as an entire building envelope. Overhangs and the thoughtful orientation of interior spaces and openings moderate the climate of the penthouse, which can also be adjusted by providing cross ventilation through operable windows in the glass facade and at the highest point of the roof construction.


Photo: Wolfgang Thale

Photo: Wolfgang Thale

Photo: Wolfgang ThaleA bright pink patio in the middle of the roof brings warmth and soft light into the apartment.

The pink patio (cubo de luz) is reminiscent of the exterior color the old building used to have when it was a bakery.

Photo: Wolfgang Thale

Photo: Wolfgang Thale

The floors covering the entire penthouse - from the moment you enter, to the moment you step into the bathtub - are of Santo Tomas marble, a local stone usually employed as flooring in the city's subway stations, churches and other public spaces.

Thus the echoes of the outside are folded quietly into a private space, further reenforcing the notion of a transient, temporal habitat.

Drawing courtesy Architects CollectiveFloor Plan

Drawing courtesy Architects CollectiveUpper Floor Plan
Drawing courtesy Architects CollectiveEast Section
Drawing courtesy Architects CollectiveNorth Section