Concept:
The seventh bookshop in the company, it is the first free standing building and the first specifically commissioned by a third party, the Instituto Cultural Helénico, to complimentits Theatre and School complex. Conceived as a single large "hangar" 27x17x9mts, holding different platforms or stages at different levels for its different varied functions, shop, lounge/working area/bar, and restaurant, it is surrounded by double height bookshelves, and transitioning from a very busy urban street to a peaceful garden, all activities are integrated under a common trellised ceiling, but at the same time individualized by lighting, furniture layout and unique choice of materials for each function. It incorporates an 80 year old palm tree in the middle of the space. It has quickly become an important cultural hub for the southern area of the city following in the footsteps of previous projects in other districts.

Project Description:
The San Angel Branch of the Péndulo Bookstore Chain was commissioned by the Instituto Cultural Helénico, to complement its cultural complex of theaters and humanities school, and to create a cultural hub in the southern part of Mexico City. The project emerges from a pre-existing raised “plaza” in the front of the site and works around a large ash tree and an imposing palm. The building borrows from the theatre the concept of “stages” or platforms at different levels, where from you can see and be seen, all within a large “hangar” like space.Multiple activities coexist in these “stages”, bookstore, restaurant and lounge bar, all surrounded by the presence of books, and unified bellow a wooden pergola.

Different materials and lighting bring warmth and individuality to each level and activity. Circulation patterns offer variety of experiences to move around and inhabit the space. The interior is arranged around two axis, one from a busy avenue to a quiet garden in the back, and the other from the theatre entry to a huge wall of books. The palm tree, housed in a chimney like louvered enclosure, serves as the commanding axis for the entire composition as well as the natural ventilation regulator for the entire space.

A light steel structural system which include the bookshelves themselves as anti-sismic diaphragms, together with a sensitive use of materials allowed for an open yet intimate feeling of the space. The discreet facade, covered with ondulated aluminum, wood and large windows, are perfectly integrated between the existing theatre structure by renowned architect Pedro Ramirez Vazquez and the neighboring headquarters of the Federal Judiciary Building by Ricardo Legorreta, from which it borrows some of its color palette.

Material Used :
1. Hunter Douglas – Facade Cladding – Softwave 25.
2. Galvak – Roofing – Multypanel.
3. Crisvisa – Glazing – Low-e
4. Pisos creativos, Global Woods – Wall coverings – Pure oak berry alloc
5. Materiales Rústicos – Solid surifacing – Mexican black basalt slabs.
6. Bolon – Resilient flooring – Sisal Plain Sand.

Concept:
The seventh bookshop in the company, it is the first free standing building and the first specifically commissioned by a third party, the Instituto Cultural Helénico, to complimentits Theatre and School complex. Conceived as a single large "hangar" 27x17x9mts, holding different platforms or stages at different levels for its different varied functions, shop, lounge/working area/bar, and restaurant, it is surrounded by double height bookshelves, and transitioning from a very busy urban street to a peaceful garden, all activities are integrated under a common trellised ceiling, but at the same time individualized by lighting, furniture layout and unique choice of materials for each function. It incorporates an 80 year old palm tree in the middle of the space. It has quickly become an important cultural hub for the southern area of the city following in the footsteps of previous projects in other districts.

Project Description:

The San Angel Branch of the Péndulo Bookstore Chain was commissioned by the Instituto Cultural Helénico, to complement its cultural complex of theaters and humanities school, and to create a cultural hub in the southern part of Mexico City. The project emerges from a pre-existing raised “plaza” in the front of the site and works around a large ash tree and an imposing palm. The building borrows from the theatre the concept of “stages” or platforms at different levels, where from you can see and be seen, all within a large “hangar” like space.Multiple activities coexist in these “stages”, bookstore, restaurant and lounge bar, all surrounded by the presence of books, and unified bellow a wooden pergola.

Different materials and lighting bring warmth and individuality to each level and activity. Circulation patterns offer variety of experiences to move around and inhabit the space. The interior is arranged around two axis, one from a busy avenue to a quiet garden in the back, and the other from the theatre entry to a huge wall of books. The palm tree, housed in a chimney like louvered enclosure, serves as the commanding axis for the entire composition as well as the natural ventilation regulator for the entire space.

A light steel structural system which include the bookshelves themselves as anti-sismic diaphragms, together with a sensitive use of materials allowed for an open yet intimate feeling of the space. The discreet facade, covered with ondulated aluminum, wood and large windows, are perfectly integrated between the existing theatre structure by renowned architect Pedro Ramirez Vazquez and the neighboring headquarters of the Federal Judiciary Building by Ricardo Legorreta, from which it borrows some of its color palette.

Material Used :
1. Hunter Douglas – Facade Cladding – Softwave 25
2. Galvak – Roofing – Multypanel
3. Crisvisa – Glazing – Low-e
4. Pisos creativos, Global Woods – Wall coverings – Pure oak berry alloc
5. Materiales Rústicos – Solid surifacing – Mexican black basalt slabs
6. Bolon – Resilient flooring – Sisal Plain Sand