old factory turned residence becomes an oasis within the city of mexico

richaud arquitectura renovated the old factory of ‘galletas richaud hermanos’, located in the san román neighborhood, mexico, into a family residence. this piece of history became a family residence until 1981, when it was completely abandoned but with the original sign still legible today. the unbeneficial relationship of the preexisting colonial building and the residence from the ‘80s, generates the search for a meeting point, which was the architects’ main goal.

all images by manolo r. solis
the original sign still legible today was respected

richaud arquitectura proposed recovering and restoring the preexisting colonial structure and giving it a new purpose. the architects remodeled, extended, and opened the dining room for a continuous relationship with the garden that they now share. the original layout of the colonial house is maintained and the original masonry walls are uncovered to emphasize the age of the property.

in the lobby walls were ‘tinted’ with green paste and pasta tiles were used to cover floors

the purpose of this extension was to create a social recreation area, contained in 186 square meters. although several original elements were kept the same, it was impossible to recover the ceiling, so a new one completely displaced from the original walls was conceived. the project creates a large ‘terrace between walls’, contained by the original squares, roofed by a floating ceiling, supported by metal PTRs and anchored to the masonry walls.

the kitchen-bar countertops are made of tinted concrete and cast-in-place with recycled glass. masonry walls are uncovered to emphasize the age of the property

by keeping the original layout, a pool is conceived between open-air walls with a total traditional chukum coating chosen as a finish. this makes the pool blend in with the stone environment, thus generating the look of a naturally flowing body of water. in the garden, the trees and preexisting masonry were preserved. as for the floor, the original one was damaged, so the architects chose to use traditional pasta tiles, with different colorful designs in each of the areas as a delimitation. the bright-colored mosaic tiles represent the beauty, character, and art of mexican colonial houses.

terrace between walls, roofed by a floating ceiling

in the lobby, the walls were tinted with green paint because they were not originals and the preexisting walls were sought to be highlighted. this rule had an exception in the guestroom and its bathroom, where paint was partially used. the covered area as a terrace between the walls contains a kitchen bar and a living-dining room. the kitchen-bar countertops are made of tinted concrete and cast-in-place with recycled glass, which gives a rustic finish with mineral touches.

original wooden beams that once supported the ceiling now suspended as decoration in the living-dining room

in the living-dining room, some original wooden beams that supported the ceiling were used as decoration. the ceiling is left as bare polished white concrete to blend in with the whole space. this renovation gives casa exfábrica richaud the opportunity to reencounter its roots. the space between walls, surrounded by great vegetation becomes an oasis within the city.

dining Room from the 80´s house as the meeting point, remodeled, extended, and opened to the garden that now shares with the colonial building

the pool surrounded by great vegetation

total Chukum coating is chosen for the pool to blend in the stone environment

access from the guest room to the pool

guestroom

pre-existing colonial structures blending with the also pre-existing trees

the pool is conceived between open-air walls

project info:

name: Ex Richaud Factory House

architects: richaud arquitectura

lead architect: jorge agustín richaud falcón

design team: maría josé gamboa martín, fernely osorio sanchez, victor antonio del rio sanchez, javier peón chayrez.

interior design: acento interiorismo

engineering: rodolfo josé pascacio sánchez

photography: manolo r. solis

location: san francisco de campeche, mexico

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: yasmina karam | designboom