ViGA arquitectos remodels a 1970s residence for 'agua house' in mexico city

for this project in mexico city, ViGA arquitectos has taken an existing house from the 1970s and remodeled it to meet the needs of a contemporary client. rather than building from scratch, the architects adopted a more sustainable approach by retaining the existing reticular concrete structure.

main façade

images courtesy of ViGA arquitectos

the newly renovated ‘agua house’ preserves the load-bearing walls and columns of the existing concrete struture but opens the building up to create light filled interiors. the residence now also opens up to the garden thanks to movable glazed panels on the first floor and a retractable lattice façade on the upper level. the program is over two storys, with the public functions located on the first floor and the more private rooms located on the second. 

façade detail with lattice open

access to the house begins with a walkthrough next to the front garden that leads to an exterior patio, which frames the main entrance, after passing a threshold on a smaller scale. once entering the house, this scale is increased into a double height hall that is visualized as a wooden box that functions as a patio. flooded with natural light and crossed by a bridge, this hall becomes the central point of the house that links the horizontal spaces with the vertical ones. on the first floor, the carpentry hides the structure in order to lighten the volume and allow the visual continuity of the open space. the stairs that lead to the private area of ​​the house, are confined to one side of the double height.

main façade with lattice closed

the landscape is thought as a series of spaces from where the house can be seen from its different angles. the landscape work consists of recovering the existing lava layers with endemic vegetation, trying to erase the limits of the interior with the exterior. on the upper floor, the roof of the garage as well as the planters are filled with green in order to control the views from the inside, these in turn are also limited through the lattice that covers the main façade in its entirety.

façade detail with lattice closed

main entrance

family room

double height space

staircase

second floor 

second floor bridge

bathroom

landscape

project info:

project name: agua house

location: mexico city, mexico

architect: ViGA arquitectos (angela vizcarra & alberto garcía valladares)

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

edited by: lynne myers | designboom