Plaza Residences
- Category:
- Residential housing
- Location:
- Cuauhtémoc, Mexico City
- Area:
- 42,200 m²
- Units:
- 200 Apartments
- Year:
- 2010
- Status:
- Built
- Services:
- Project
Management
Construction
Supervision
This is a building whose form enriches and brings movement to the urban context. It becomes a sculptural object that acts as a showcase, framing the Columbus monument on one of the stand-out corners along Reforma avenue.
As a response to the circular Columbus intersection, the building’s glass façade rises in the form of a boomerang, generating a concave interior space. This shape is emplaced over an extended linear element oriented on the site with the intention of presenting a substantial expanse of façade to Reforma, thus privileging all the apartments with a view over this magnificent avenue.
The building’s plinth is a solid pedestal that ascribes presence to the lower floors, which contain common areas, as well as retail and service zones.
Plaza Residences behaves as an abstract entity. The principal façade is presented as a uniform glass curtain that is emphasized by randomly placed aluminum mullions, which make it hard to keep track of the number of floors. These help to control insolation and generate an interesting play of light and shadow across the concave form.
The convex façade, meanwhile, is comprised of horizontal bands, which contain the corridors for accessing the suites, while at the same time functioning as vantage points offering superb views over Mexico City.
The building’s corners are notable for their height, and employ an abstract language with vertical elements that break with the horizontal character of both façades. One of these vertical elements is displaced, and at night time becomes a light box, with a set of colonnades and glass at the crown, serving to increase the building’s presence.
Art is integrated into the Plaza Residences project with an elevated mural in the plaza or “Pisal” which, besides being a space for shared use, serves as a point of transition to the exterior, and to increase the visual contact with the grand avenue.
In recent years a number of real estate developments of outstanding importance and magnitude have been built on the Paseo de la Reforma. One of these is Plaza Residences, a new landmark building.
