Noox Buenavista

Facing the restoration of a building is sometimes more complicated than building a new one, not only because there are parts with a historical value that have to be preserved; but also because of the state of the construction, since it is seldom unknown in what conditions it is before starting the project. Therefore, the project for the remodeling of this building was an important challenge for our group of architects, since it implied adopting very different strategies to those that would be developed in an empty land without any building. The reasons that led to remodeling this building instead of demolishing and building a new one, were very diverse; but they were mainly based on the historical value gifted to the user, that live in a place retaining the charm of the past, but also that has the modern comforts: making the most of the original materials and construction finishes. Of course, there is also a sustainability issue in which the recycling of the building (By preventing its demolition and the corresponding energy cost involved in building it again); reduces the ecological footprint in a very important way. Therefore, we consider that a clear and decisive intervention with modern materials was much more respectful than others that, after presenting a false respect towards the past, they try to copy styles and forms that have fallen into disuse, and create in the end false historical styles. Mainly a building like this, that although, it was built during the decade of the 40s in an urban context with a lot of historical value, this one in particular, did not have its own clearly defined style, although it is conceived as an element that is integrated into a public square that generates different harmonious sets very important in the area. The project is located a few blocks away from the old Buenavista train station, the Chopo Museum and the Revolution Monument; as well as the Paseo de la Reforma; they represents symbols and important landmarks of Mexico City. The original building functioned for more than 50 years as a hotel that hosted those who arrived by train to Mexico City. After 20 years of having remained unused; in the 2016 it was in a very important state of deterioration, which led to its intervention as part of an urban and heritage rescue project The principal idea was to restore a building located in an area that has, once again taken an important dynamism within the city, take advantage of its previous function and assign a new use according to current needs. In this case, we generate a new concept of ultra-small residential spaces (designed for one or 2 people) who reside either temporarily, or semi-permanently in them, equipped with all the services to satisfied all their needs, and being designed in a creative and functional way.   To counteract the small interior space, the building was provided with very generous, fun and well-designed indoor and outdoor common areas, such as lobbies, terraces, recreational areas (multimedia room), sports (gym and swimming lane) and artistic (engraving workshop), among others. A very important area of the project is the exterior terrace of the 4th level; an area previously unused, dedicated exclusively to service areas and location of water tanks and facilities in general, where a large part of these recreational areas are located (gymnasium, of multiple uses, lane and swim), in addition to an edible vertical garden for consumption of the users of the property, which in turn lives and merges with the public square located directly opposite the building and which allows to extend the view to the skyline of the city center. The general concept of this restoration was based on respecting the original architectural design of the building, organized around a central courtyard covered by a structure based on metal reinforcements which were raised and freed to obtain a greater spatial amplitude, that allowed to achieve a greater lighting and natural ventilation, and also were turned to obtain a better solar orientation; mainly because to the structure was installed a cover based on photovoltaic panels, which provide enough energy to cover the electricity consumption of the common areas of the building.