Designer: TALC
E-mail: joseluis@talc.mx
Country: México
Project year: 2020
Area: 243 m2
Location: Tlalpan, Mexico City, Mexico
Team: Jose Luis Jimenez
Structural engineering: Miguel Ángel Trujano
Construction consulting: Luis Jiménez Páez
Photographer: Ignacio Rodríguez García
Photographer’s email: info@grid-va.com
The Xochitlali house is a middle-class house, located in an informal neighbourhood of Mexico City where self-construction and progressive housing predominates, generating a gray and unfinished image in the entire neighbourhood.
The clients requested a home that in spite of being in a small area of 139 m2 needed a broad program as well as having as much open space as possible. For this reason, the project comes up with the purpose of keeping at least 2/3 of the land as open space between the ground floor and the second level. The program consists of; living room, dining room, kitchen, half bathroom, cellar, pantry, two covered parking spaces, and a patio on the ground floor. On the ground floor level there are; three bedrooms and two full bathrooms, and on the second-floor level; a television room, half bath, laundry room, and a terrace.
Taking advantage of the fact that is an area located in a corner lot, all the spaces can be ventilated and illuminated with ease however, the inside of the living areas are preserved towards the interior of the house, avoiding as much as possible having to see outside of the house. This is why a patio of a third of the land is created on the ground floor (from which all the rainwater from the house also infiltrates) and on the last level a terrace with high walls, but specific views towards the City of Mexico from the height provided by the periphery.
For its construction, local labor was used respecting the traditional construction system of the periphery of the city of block and solid concrete slab. In addition, the rustic exterior was preserved to fit the house in the context without drawing excessive attention but leaving a flat and white paint for the interior.
The result is a 243 m2 single-family home that seeks to go unnoticed on the outside, without losing its contemporary expression and reserving the luxury of simple materials inside, favoring ventilation and natural lighting in all its spaces.
