The project has the objective of creating a seven-apartment building with a communitarian and inclusive character. One of the lessons COVID-19 brought us is the importance of recreative areas within our housing. To generate comunal places, where users can meet their neighbours and create a sense of informality and security in their environment.
The design considers each apartment with a balcony and multifunctional areas. All this with the idea of bringing a sense of more spatiality to a minor extent. At the same time, a decorative lattice was designed in the circulation areas, to provide constant lighting and ventilation, as well as to connect inner areas with the exterior. Finally, a comunal area locates on the rooftop, which contains a pool area and roofed recreational areas. Parking and circulation areas have green spaces and a lesser amount of walls, always encouraging communication.
Regarding the material selection, the building possesses exposed concrete for the facade by the client’s request. The decorative lattice is made of standard blocks, encouraging an affordable and simple design. Finally, the selection of chukum, an endemic material from the Yucatan Peninsula, was made for the interior areas of the apartments. Due to its thermoregulating qualities, the chukum was the ultimate sustainable option, because it helps to maintain a room temperature, reducing the use of the air conditioner. At the same time, it skips one constructive step by getting rid of painting, due to the decorative effect chukum has on the walls, helping to mitigate the humidity inside of the apartments. Lastly, tzalam wood was selected, which is humidity resistant and possess excellent durability. The site locates in a growing residential area in the city of Cancún. In the surrounding area, there are several schools, shopping and housing. The urban development for this zone includes larger educational complexes to shopping malls. This circumstance emphasised the necessity of designing a building that will blend either with the current and future urban context.
