Architect(s): Rojkind Arquitectos
Address: Vialidad de La Barranca 6, Bosque de las Palmas, MEXICO CITY, Mexico
Latitude/Longitude: 19.396659,-99.281622
Photographs: Paúl Rivera
Project Architects : Michel Rojkind, Gerardo Salinas
Team Joe : R. Tarr, Djurdja Milutinovic, Rodrigo Medina, Philipp Schlauch, Birgit Hammer, Jose Carlos Lombana, Abhirabika Agrawal, Rosalba Rojas Chávez, Dolores Robles-Martínez Gómez, Andrea León Cruz
Client : Liverpool
Area : 30000.0 m²
Text description provided by the architects. Rojkind Arquitectos was commissioned to design a façade for the new 18,000m2 department store as part of a new era in the company’s pursuit for re-branding itself, in the concext of the new role that shopping centers play in today’s society, in which they have become a magnet for social encounters and even cultural exchanges.
One of the main anchor stores for large shopping centers in Mexico are Liverpool department stores, with a 164-yearold history. An important role in the immediate urban context is its strategic location.
This relatively new suburb is located in the northern “car dependent” suburb of Interlomas on the outskirts of Mexico City and characterized by a lack of open public space and a myriad of roads on which pedestrians are not welcomed.
The new facade responds to a fast pace of the everyday life in this isolated suburb, sitting in the middle of a very congested intersection of highways and overpasses, which give it a futuristic “Blade Runner-like” feel.
The ideas behind the façade design intent were driven by the customization process of fabricating directly from 3D models, with an existing circular footprint. A very important factor is the speed in the way the project is experienced.
Flexibility, fluidity and dynamism drove the design process.
The double-layered façade shelters the store and it’s users from its chaotic environment.
As the intense sun baths it throughout the day, the stainless steel machine-like exterior evolves in a very fluid way. It’s a contradiction to the grit and chaos of its surroundings; a juxtaposition that becomes a new reference for this part of the city.
Light engulfs the hollow cavity between the layers of the façade at night and subtly escapes through the fine reliefs formed at the folds in the skin.
Solid monochromatic appearance during the day transform the façade at night to a dynamic form accented by light.
The client’s new endeavor led multiple design firms to participate in the various parts of the project and be selected. The interiors were done by FRCH, the rooftop garden by Thomas Balsley and the gourmet space by JHP.
The main central interior space was clear that needed to reflect the dynamic nature of the exterior in the initial workshops sessions, so the client retained Rojkind Arquitectos to design this space as well.
A three story atrium full of movement and filtered daylight meets the visitors when entering that encourages the visitor to move throughout the department store.
A reminder of the fluidity of the exterior façade are the curved backlit balconies, but at a more human scale as opposed to the urban scale of the exterior façade.
A sense of discovery for the user that culminates at the roof garden is created with this play.
A park-like setting is contained at the roof terrace that can be enjoyed not only by the store visitors but also by the surrounding local community, thus enhancing the social role that the department store will play.
The combination of a highly skilled design team and collaborators in which the interconnectivity and digital design tools have radically transformed the way we design and construct buildings today were required by the complexity of the project combined with a very tight schedule and a difficult urban site condition.
Contributed by Rojkind Arquitectos
