Architecture studios Oficina de Diseño Colaborativo and Atelier TBD have created a cultural space that preserves the “self-built essence” of San Miguel de Allende.
(DEZEEN).-Created in collaboration with interior studio Maye Colab, Santa Tere Espacio is a cultural space and office that will primarily serve to foster reading in the surrounding neighbourhoods.
“Santa Tere Espacio emerged from the idea of creating architecture through renovation, reuse, repair, and repurposing,” said the team.
“Based on the self-built essence of the neighbourhood, Office of Collaborative Design, TBD Atelier, and Maye Colab joined forces with a shared vision to propose a project that engages with the site’s legacy.”
According to the team, self-construction is a “common building practice in Latin America”, a technique they sought to preserve by repurposing both the existing architecture and materials from the site, which was a former six-room, single-story dwelling.
For Santa Tere Espacio, the team distributed several meeting rooms, a kitchenette, a bathroom and a central courtyard along the structure’s lateral plan with a second, detached bathroom tucked into a corner of the site.
A long alleyway, marked with a curving concrete path, runs along the length of the exterior and provides access to each space.
“The intervention primarily involved demolitions to bring in light and allow ventilation of the spaces, and the incorporation of new elements such as doors, windows, and tile finishes that contrast with the pre-existing structure,” said the team.
San Miguel Times
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