This apartment project occupies the lower level of a building on Mexico City’s west side. It generates a dialog between the newly constructed building and its environment, interweaving the project with its landscape and unifying indoors with outdoors.

The design process inserted targeted elements that produced a series of specific, outdoor spaces whose function is directly related to the apartment’s indoor activity.

The indoor section has a linear axis with access to the rooms crossing through the common, semi-private, and private areas. Likewise, the outdoor layout follows a parallel design; a wall runs along the axis that encloses and divides the areas based on the required activity.

The northeast holds two terraces joined by a pergola; the first houses a living and dining area with a vertical garden built of wooden boxes reclaimed from the shoring system used in the construction. The second terrace rests on a lower overhang, suggesting a closer relationship with the landscape. Finally, a staircase connects it with the gully underneath the structure.

The southwest houses a more private garden that connects to the bedrooms, the TV room and kitchen, culminating in a contemplative space known as the Garden Box. This open module is designed for an intimate interaction between the spectator and the garden.

Three transition elements were built with reinforced concrete, each with its distinctive energy. The first is a pool of water that symbolizes the purification of the access space, while endowing the access with movement and sound. The second consists of a garden of energy stones, while the third is a vegetable garden, designed to blend the gully’s natural vegetation with the terraces.

 https://vimeo.com/203511309

Data Sheet

Official name of the project: Villa Jardín

Location: Huixquilucan, Estado de Mexico

Project year: 2016

Client: Confidential

Architects: ASP Arquitectura Sergio Portillo

Architect-in-charge: Sergio Portillo Alarcón

Constructor: LINEAL Construcción y Desarrollo Arquitectónico

Engineering: Grupo R (Jaime Rangel)

Landscape design: Integración Orgánica (Noemí González Zarco)

Photo credits: Rafael Gamo

ASP Arquitectura Sergio Portillo is an architecture firm located in Mexico City that was founded in 2014 by Sergio Portillo Alarcón, whose background includes directing and coordinating a firm and a contracting company for 10 years. His work has been published in Mexico and abroad.

The architects focus on generating value through the contemporary practice of architecture and urbanism. Their approach is sensitive to the context and the environment and combines high-tech materials with regional products.

ASP Arquitectura Sergio Portillo is truly committed to architecture and how people experience it. This is why they develop proposals that are relevant to the site and its environment and which take the specific circumstances of each case into consideration. The architects work alongside their clients and multidisciplinary specialists to find a solution that dignifies the project and represents true value for the client.

Each of their projects is a blank slate that requires a specific approach. ASP Arquitectura Sergio Portillo believes that true substance is found in the intangible, but beyond shapes or aesthetics. They value the integrity of the concept and lavish meticulous care on the quality of the details, both at the project level and in the work itself.