Rafael Pardo creates towering Zoncuantla Apartments from pigmented concrete

Architect Rafael Pardo has completed a towering apartment block in Veracruz, Mexico, using concrete pigmented with minerals from the site.

The six-storey building on a steep slope in Coatepec, a municipality of Veracruz with rolling hills and mesophilic forest, contains four apartments.

Rafael Pardo designed a towering apartment block in Veracruz

With over 860 square meters to build on, Pardo decided to conserve more than 50 per cent of the land and build the apartments vertically on the site.

"There was a concern to have the smallest footprint possible in its land and leave more green area," he told Dezeen.

There are driveways at two different grades

Alongside the apartments, the project included the planting of 31 trees and roughly eight plants per square metre.

"The topography of the land led us to provide this structural solution, but also to have less impact on the land and for all the apartments to have views of the landscape," Parda continued.

"Rainwater also infiltrates more into the ground and helps us maintain the ecosystem of the forest area that surrounds us."

The concrete used in construction was pigmented with minerals from the site

The 470-square-metre block is wrapped in board-form concrete coloured with sediments from Veracruz.

"In the immediate area there are houses made of adobe, wood and some other houses painted in ochre colors, this lead me to use the concrete pigmented with earth from the site," said Pardo.

Floor-to-ceiling glazing was used for the living areas

With an entrance from the street, the complex is built to the gradient of the slope but still manages to tower above the landscape.

Each of the apartments has floor-to-ceiling windows looking out, and each apartment has a slightly different configuration.

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From the main entrance, one can directly access the second-floor apartment, which cantilevers out and forms a terrace for the apartment above. An additional cantilever at the side of the building further extends the living area of this apartment.

This apartment is the only one with only a single floor.

The upper-most apartment has a small mezzanine in the double-volume living area

Stairwells lead down to a two-storey apartment below and eventually to the ground floor apartment. These lower habitations have additional space built horizontally into the slope.

The ground floor apartment has access to a garden and an auxiliary covered parkade.

The stairwells are sculptural and minimally adorned. Skylights and windows with thin glazing make the structure seem open to the elements.

Simple materials were used for the interiors

Up from the entrance is another two-storey apartment – the highest – which has a double-volume interior with a mezzanine that serves as a lounge and viewing area.

The interiors are just as stark and earth-toned as the exterior with polished concrete flooring and dark wooden doors that serve as entrances from the stairwell.

The home was designed to fit in with the local architecture

Rafael Pardo has a practice based in the nearby town of Xalapa.

Other projects in Veracruz include a black-clad home designed by Lopez Gonzalez in Xalapa as well as a pitched-roof structure that revitalizes public space at Veracruz's port.

The photography is byOnnis Luque and Naser Nader.

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#all #residential #architecture #apartments #terraces #mexico #colouredconcrete

Ian Pablo Amores creates pink hotel with courtyard garden in San Miguel de Allende

Mexican architect Ian Pablo Amores has completed a boutique hotel in San Miguel de Allende with a pink facade and a landscaped garden lounge.

The Quinta Amores hotel is located in the Los Frailes neighbourhood of San Miguel de Allende, a city in central Mexico that is known for its Spanish colonial architecture and cobblestone streets.

Quinta Amores sits on cobblestone streets

Five pink-hued buildings make up the resort, which was built on a rectangular lot filled with vegetation.

From the street, guests pass a gate into a reception wing, which has roof projection to provide shade and support a hammock.

Pink volumes sit within a verdant garden

The colour, which was prepared specifically for the hotel, was mixed on-site and chosen for its relationship to the colonial buildings of San Miguel de Allende.

"In the state of Guanajuato, you can see these colors (reds, orange, pink, etc) in almost every colonial building," Ian Pablo Amores told Dezeen.

Warm wooden furniture makes up Quinta Amores' interiors

"I try to relate the project with the context of San Miguel de Allende. I made around 15 samples of colour and I saw that this type of pink was very special with the natural light of the site," the architect added.

Ian Pablo Amores added a sunken conversation pit to the courtyard

A lush courtyard has landscaped paths and a sunken conversation pit.

"The set is built around a spacious amenity that functions as a meeting point between families," said the architect, describing the courtyard as "a space that conveys a sense of belonging that accompanies the guest in his voyage through San Miguel de Allende."

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Four suites make up the small hotel. Two single-storey rooms are at the front of the property, with another pair of two-storey volumes at the back that can accommodate families.

Each of the guest rooms has a private exterior space that is separated from the communal garden by a stone wall. These smaller courtyards are the main access to the guest rooms, and some of them include a sculptural stone bathtub.

Sculptural stone bathtubs feature in some of the smaller courtyards

The buildings' exterior surfaces are all the same pink colour, which provides some contrast to the courtyard's greenery and natural stone floors. The finish is a cementitious material similar to stucco.

Inside, the architects used a palette of warm wooden furniture, red tile floors, and simple white walls.

Red floor tiles were placed in some of the bedrooms

Ian Pablo Amores started his eponymous architecture practice in 2021 called Estudio Ian Pablo Amores and nicknamed Estudio IPA. The boutique hotel counts as one of his first individual projects.

Mexico has recently seen the construction of several smaller, design-forward hotels. Other examples include a hotel in Querétaro that was built within a neocolonial villa that belonged to a local philanthropist and the El Perdido hotel in Baja California Sur, which was made of rammed-earth walls covered in thatched roofs.

The photography is byCésar Béjar.

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#hotels #all #architecture #stone #courtyards #mexico #gardens #hammocks #colouredconcrete #pink #colour #boutiquehotels #sanmigueldeallende

1540 Arquitectura references agave plant with triangular-shaped ranch

Mexican studio 1540 Arquitectura has created a series of triangular structures incorporating a stable called Services Agavero Ranch in the Tequila district of Jalisco, Mexico.

Set in the Mexican countryside, the ranch was designed to resemble the shape of the agave plant, which is used to make tequila in the region that shares its name.

1540 Arquitectura has designed a ranch in the Tequila district of Jalisco

1540 Arquitectura designed the fully functioning ranch to be built within the existing agave fields.

Because of the uneven rise and fall of the landscape, triangular shapes were chosen.

"The triangle allowed us to rotate the constructions to our liking, only touching at one point with the construction next door, thus allowing us to adapt to the shape of the road in a natural way," said the studio.

"The similarity with the agave plant in terms of shape was a pleasant coincidence of the process."

The triangle forms reflect the shape of the surrounding agave plants

The ceilings and foundations of the structures were made out of pigmented concrete, while the walls were formed from light brick.

The concrete colour is similar to the hues of the landscape and "allows a certain degree of transparency when the whole is observed from the back", according to the architecture studio.

1540 Arquitectura positioned the stables and the storehouse on either side of the caretaker's residence, which includes a bed, kitchenette, dining room and bathroom.

The storehouse contains all the equipment necessary for running the ranch.

The caretaker's quarters are between the stables and storehouse

Because of the changing needs of an agricultural operation, the use of multiple triangular structures allows for the future addition of more rooms.

While the tips of the triangular ranch structures stretch out and back towards the field, the broad fronts line the road. The entrances of the three separate envelopes are connected by a colonnade-lined portico.

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The rows of colonnades that connect the exterior reference the "porticoes of small Mexican towns," according to the studio.

The overhang of the exterior walkway also provides shade from the intense desert sun. Lighting fixtures styled in an antique variety follow the walkway and saplings are planted in the gaps between the buildings.

A preexisting dirt road services the agave fields

The structure represents 1540 Arquitectura's plan to integrate the structure naturally into the landscape through colour, and into the cultural background through the use of traditional features like the portico.

"This time," the studio said, "it was the turn of the brick, the triangle, the podium and the colonnade, which combined together projected the atmosphere and presence we were looking for on this occasion".

The stables have four stalls and storage for food and medical equipment

This is not the first time that the firm has been involved with infrastructure for the tequila industry. Also in Jalisco, it designed the offices for the Casa Leyros Distillery.

For more architecture that integrates stables and horses, see these wooden stables completed by Pook on the edge of a Finnish forest and Casey Brown's design of a metal-clad house and stables in an Australian national park.

The photography is byCésar Béjar Studio.

Project credits:

Design team : Jaime Castillo, Roman Hidalgo, Mario Uribe, Yael Essés, Juan Pablo Nuño, Arturo Zepeda, Edgar Sandoval, Christian González, Daniela Oceguera.

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#all #architecture #industrial #farms #mexico #stables #horses #colouredconcrete #1540arquitectura

NWLND Rogiers Vandeputte contrasts red concrete pool house with green landscape

Architecture studio NWLND Rogiers Vandeputte has built a pool house from red concrete within the wooded garden of a home in Flanders, Belgium.

Named the Refuge, the project is a walled pavilion containing a square building and swimming pond – a swimming pool with a natural filtration system.

Solid red concrete pavilion walls contain the swimming pond and pool house

"Instead of designing a swimming pond alongside the garden pavilion, we designed a garden pavilion which integrated the swimming pond within its perimeter – a refuge," said Bert Rogiers and Pieter Vandeputte, founding architects of NWLND Rogiers Vandeputte.

"The result is an extraordinary set of spaces that are sound in concept and in detailing, a series of rigid and curved lines that generate a playful intimacy."

The Refuge has a curved concrete roof that spans across the length of the pavilion

The architects used red concrete both to contrast with the green landscaping and to reference the nearby brick house.

To create a dialogue between the house and the Refuge, bricks left over from the construction of the house were reused as border walls for the patio and overflow filter pond.

Red-stained plywood panelling insulates the interior of the pool house

The interior of the pool house, which is also red, is lined with plywood formwork panels that were soaked in pigment from the concrete during the setting process.

"Instead of discarding these plywood panels after demoulding, the nails were taken out and the panels were gently cleaned," the architects told Dezeen.

"They are then used as a finish for the insulated inner shell of the pavilion."

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Rogiers and Vandeputte enclosed the swimming pond, pool house, and underground studio space within the solid concrete walls of the pavilion.

According to the architects, building the entire project in concrete meant the swimming pond did not have to be lined.

Cutouts in the solid concrete walls were located to frame views of the landscape. The concrete roof of the pool house extends over an outside patio and curves around the pavilion.

The red colour of the concrete was informed by the bricks used in the existing house

"We always look for the dematerialisation of a project, especially by limiting the different materials used. Concrete is a very good material for this," said the architects.

"Concrete can be transformed into any shape, especially if the contractor is specialised in this and collaborates with us to find innovative solutions."

Cutouts in the solid concrete walls of the pavilion create framed views of the surrounding landscape

The curved cutout in the pool house roof joins with the perimeter of an enclosed garden in the landscaping to form a complete circle.

"The circle is used as a visual language for the abstracted version of a clearing in the forest," said the architects. "Every frame that arises throughout the space engages in a dialogue with the existing house and nature."

Bricks from the existing house were reused in the Refuge to border the overflow filter pond

NWLND Rogiers Vandeputte is an architecture studio founded by Pieter Vandeputte and Bert Rogiers in 2017.

Other projects using coloured concreted on Dezeen include a pink concrete holiday home in East Sussex by RX Architects, a peach-coloured pavilion that overlooks a peach tree field in Henan Province, China, and a red concrete golf clubhouse in the Algarve, Portugal, designed by RCR Arquitectes.

The photography is by Johnny Umans.

Project credits:

Architect: NWLND Rogiers Vandeputte
Structural engineer: Util
Landscape: Jeroen Provoost
Concrete contractor: Patrick Janssens Festoo, Festoo Constructs
Windows: Allaert Aluminium
Interior: ILB

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#all #architecture #residential #instagram #concrete #belgium #poolhouses #colouredconcrete

Ten houses made from colourful concrete

Concrete is usually associated with an industrial-looking shade of grey, but it doesn't always have to be that way. Here, Dezeen rounds up 10 concrete houses that bring colour to the material.

Top and above photos by Richard Chivers

Seabreeze, UK, by RX Architects

This holiday home on the English south coast is covered in smooth pink concrete.

Given an open brief, British studio RX Architects opted for a playful design for the project that references Mediterranean beach houses.

Find out more about Seabreeze ›

Photo is by Sanden+Hodnekvam Arkitekter

House in Red Concrete, Norway, by Sanden+Hodnekvam Arkitekter

The distinctive red colour of this concrete house in the Norwegian town of Lillehammer was achieved by adding iron oxide to the mix.

To keep the project affordable, Osl0-based studio Sanden+Hodnekvam Arkitekter chose to use prefabricated insulated concrete panels, which gave the facade its geometric pattern.

Find out more about House in Red Concrete ›

Photo courtesy of RCR Arquitectes

Signature Villas, Portugal, by RCR Arquitectes

Built at a seaside resort in the Algarve, these luxury villas designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize-winning Catalan studio RCR Arquitectes are formed of overlapping planes of red-pigmented concrete.

The houses have angular wall surfaces, with no clear front or back to the buildings because of the way rooms fan out from one another.

Find out more about Signature Villas ›

Photo is by Jérôme Ricolleau

P House, France, by Tectoniques

The semi-buried P House, in Saint-Cyr-au-d'Or, was constructed from specially developed concrete dyed with ochre. The concrete was vibrated manually to release air bubbles and produce a thick, imperfect finish.

Architecture firm Tectoniques, which usually specialises in timber buildings, took on the project as an experiment. Inside, concrete is contrasted with oak woodwork and flooring and bleached spruce ceilings.

Find out more about P House ›

Photo is by Mauricio Guerrero

Mazul Beachfront Villas, Mexico, by Revolution

Designed by Mexican architecture studio Revolution, the Mazul Beachfront Villas are located on the Oaxaca coast facing the Pacific Ocean.

Built from a combination of rough brick and smooth red concrete to complement their beachy surroundings, the villas were named rural house of the year at the 2021 Dezeen Awards.

Find out more about Mazul Beachfront Villas ›

Photo is by Miguel Angel Vazquez Calanchini

Casa Calafia, Mexico, by RED Arquitectos

Named after a mythical warrior queen, Casa Calafia in Mexico's Baja California Sur was built from concrete that was given a reddish earthy tone using natural pigments.

It was designed by RED Arquitectos as a holiday home for an American couple.

Find out more about Casa Calafia ›

Photo is by Paul Tierney

Rustic House, Ireland, by Urban Agency

Iron oxide powder was used to give this concrete extension to a traditional cottage in Ireland's County Kerry a rusty colour that mimics the corrugated steel barns of the surrounding countryside.

Architecture firm Urban Agency chose concrete because of the remote site's high exposure to wind and rain, but cast the material in situ using wooden boards to give it the texture of timber.

Find out more about Rustic House ›

Photo is by Olo Studio/Juliusz Sokołowski/Jarosław Syrek

House on the Road, Poland, by KWK Promes

Robert Konieczny's studio KWK Promes designed this house to look as if it had emerged out of a winding white concrete road running through the site.

Inside the building's concrete shell is an exact replica of the client's former apartment.

Find out more about House on the Road ›

Photo is by Ben Hosking

Federal House, Australia, by Edition Office

Architecture practice Edition Office used black-pigmented concrete and timber battens to build this imposing-looking house dug into a hillside in rural New South Wales.

"At a distance the building is recessive, a shadow within the vast landscape," said the Melbourne-based studio.

"On closer inspection, a highly textural outer skin of thick timber battens contrasts the earlier sense of a machined tectonic, allowing organic materials gestures to drive the dialogue with physical human intimacy."

Find out more about Federal House ›

Photo is by Paco Álvarez

Casa Majalca, Mexico, by OAX Arquitectos

Local artisans were employed to manufacture irregular and natural-looking concrete formwork for this earth-coloured holiday home situated in the Cumbres de Majalca National Park in northern Mexico.

"The color blends in with the land, making reference to the cultural past of the archaeological sites of Paquimé and Casas Grandes," said OAX Arquitectos.

Find out more about Casa Majalca ›

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#all #architecture #residential #instagram #concrete #houses #roundups #colouredconcrete #concretehouses

Concrete walls frame desert views in remote Chihuahua home by OAX Arquitectos

The earthen tone of this off-grid holiday home in Northern Mexico was selected to match the rock formations of the nearby Cumbres de Majalca National Park, which is known for its dramatic landscapes.

OAX Arquitectos completed this remote home as a vacation getaway for a large family. It is located within a national park in Mexico's Chihuahua State, just south of the American border.

Casa Majalca is covered in earthy-coloured concrete walls

"As part of the development of the park, a section was reserved to house cottages, but because of its remote location lacks services," said OAX Arquitectos, which is based in Monterey.

"The rest of the park is protected from construction, respecting the flora and fauna of the place and promoting outdoor activities, such as camping and hiking."

The facade was made by local artisans

The angular massing of the 300-square-metre home fills the narrow lot, orienting the resident's views towards the best perspectives of the rugged desert landscape and preserving existing trees found on site.

These variations within the facade create pockets of shaded exterior space that the studio filled with local trees and cacti.

OAX Arquitectos wanted the house to blend into its desert environment

"These volumes are integrated into the landscape, like the characteristic stone monoliths of the Majalca National Park," said OAX Arquitectos.

"The color blends in with the land, making reference to the cultural past of the archaeological sites of Paquimé and Casas Grandes."

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The home has two bedrooms on its lower floor and two bedrooms upstairs. At the back of the lot, an open-plan kitchen, living and dining room overlooks the park itself, through a tall glass wall that opens onto a covered outdoor kitchen and patio.

The home is essentially off-grid, according to the architects. It generates all of its electricity needs from an array of nine solar panels on the roof, draws its water from a well and from rainwater collection, and is equipped with a septic system to process wastewater.

The house's interiors have a pared-back material finish

Its facade's unique concrete texture was created by local artisans using a variety of formwork board sizes that are meant to appear irregular and natural.

"We bet on a concept of imperfection, that gives it a rustic and brutalist character," said OAX Arquitectos.

This finish is also visible within the resident's living spaces, which the studio complemented with dark wooden furnishings, polished concrete, and black-painted walls.

Two bedrooms are located on the upper floor

The deserts of Chihuahua have inspired the material palette of several architectural projects in Mexico, including a restaurant in Guadalajara, where Monteon Arquitectos Associados designed a ceiling based on the archeological site of Casas Grandes, and a pink concrete skatepark in Ciudad Juárez that was built to revitalise the city's Oriente Park.

The photography is by Paco Álvarez.

Project credits:

Design team: José García Toledo, Fernanda Roiz Silva, Luis Carlos Rodríguez González
Structural engineer: Manuel Jezzini
Energy efficiency: Carlos Estrada Zubía
Interiors: Aileen García

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#residential #all #architecture #deserts #houses #solarpower #mexico #holidayhomes #mexicanhouses #colouredconcrete #offgridarchitecture

Pink concrete covers "fun house" on English coast by RX Architects

British studio RX Architects referenced Mediterranean beach houses when designing Seabreeze, a coastal holiday home in East Sussex that is covered in smooth pink concrete.

Located on Camber Sands beach in England, the dwelling is designed for a couple with three children who wanted to replace a house that previously occupied the site.

RX Architects has completed the coastal Seabreeze house

Provided with an open brief, Rye-based RX Architects used the opportunity to create a playful dwelling for the family with an interior that could adapt to their changing needs.

However, as the home is on a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – an area designated for conservation – the scale and massing of the home were restricted by planning guidelines that only allowed a "one for one replacement".

It is distinguished by its flush pink-concrete facade

"The intention was to create a comfortable and fun house that they could enjoy both as a couple, and with the family – as well as being adaptable as the children get older," explained the studio's founder Rob Pollard.

"They gave a very open brief which was great, however, given the very sensitive nature of the site, the overall scale and massing was limited," he told Dezeen.

The house is designed to withstand extreme weather on Camber Sands beach

Externally, Seabreeze is distinguished by its flush facade, with windows that are designed without ledges to prevent the collection of sand.

Sealed with durable microfibre concrete, which is coloured with pink pigment, the exterior helps the house to withstand high winds, moving sand and salt air.

Its colour references Mediterranean beach houses

"The neighbouring properties require significant maintenance due to the extreme weather, and the driving sand which quickly works its way into the building fabric and begins to deteriorate it," Pollard explained.

"The external material choice was selected as a way to combat this, by removing any junctions or material changes at eaves or ridge level to create an entirely sealed and wrapped facade."

Wood lines the interiors

The house is also designed without gutters, as these could get blocked by sand. Instead, water is encouraged to run off the house into the sand where it naturally drains away.

Due to the deliberately simple form of the house, RX Architects used the pink pigment in the concrete finish to soften its overall visual impact.

The main bedroom features a window seat

"We experimented with various samples, but wanted something that softened the look which could be harsh," reflected Pollard.

"The pink is reminiscent of traditional Mediterranean beach houses with their natural pink plastered elevations, and this particular colour offsets against the ever-changing sky to give both a subdued appearance on overcast days and a more vibrant appearance on brighter days."

Large expanses of glass line the living area

Inside, Seabreeze comprises an open-plan living area with large windows overlooking the beach, alongside three double bedrooms, two ensuite bedrooms and a family bathroom.

There is also a small spa, which includes a steam room, a sauna and a plunge pool.

The living area opens onto a terrace

The main bedroom is complete with a window seat, which was designed to give users the feeling that they are hovering over the beach with uninterrupted views out to sea.

This window is also positioned to perfectly frame the sea when viewed from the bed.

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Like the exterior, all of the home's internal finishes are chosen to be hardwearing. However, they are also intended to offer warmth and tactility.

These include smoked oak cladding, terrazzo flooring that emulates beach pebbles and textured natural lime paint on the walls.

The house also features a plunge pool

Outside, the house is complete with a wooden deck that leads onto the sand dunes and the sea beyond.

This is partially bordered by a curving wall made from weathering steel, designed to hold back sand and protect the terrace.

The pool is overlooked by a sauna

The Seabreeze house is heated and cooled using two 90-metre-deep ground source heat pumps, along with a mechanical ventilation and heat recovery system (MVHR).

According to the studio, this helps to maintain a comfortable interior environment in tandem with the thermal mass and energy efficiency of the building envelope.

Wooden finishes are teamed with white walls and terrazzo floors

RX Architects was founded in 2016 by Rob Pollard and Derek Rankin. Other projects by the studio include Druim, a house on the Rye Nature Reserve that is clad in larch and incorporated part of an unfinished building.

Other pink homes featured on Dezeen include a converted winery in Portugal by Extrastudio, a Vietnamese residence by 23o5studio with geometric openings and a townhouse in England designed by Office S&M.

The photography is byRichard Chivers.

Project credits:

Architect: RX Architects
Contractor: Coast View Properties
Joinery: Chartwood Design
M &E: Baltic Heating
Kitchen: Portrait Kitchens
Tiles: Mandarin Stone
Sanitary Ware: Vado

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#residential #all #architecture #instagram #uk #england #houses #holidayhomes #britishhouses #colouredconcrete #pink

Foster + Partners layers coloured concrete to create Narbo Via museum in France

Layers of coloured concrete that resemble rock stratifications enclose the Narbo Via museum designed by British architecture studio Foster + Partners in southern France.

Raised on a podium close to the Canal de la Robine in Narbonne, the museum is used for the display of Roman artefacts found in the town that was once a major Roman port.

Foster + Partners has used coloured concrete for the walls of Narbo Via. The photo is by Philippe Chancel

Foster + Partners designed the Narbo Via museum with a minimalist low-lying form, framed by monolithic walls and an overhanging concrete roof.

Its walls, which were made by tamping down layers of coloured concrete, are intended to evoke rock stratifications and Roman concrete, nodding to the archaeological contents of the museum.

The museum's exterior resembles rocks stratifications

"Roman Narbonne was a proud port city along the Mediterranean, and remains a place of significant historical importance," explained the studio's head of design Spencer de Grey.

"Our approach has been to create a simple yet flexible architectural language, one imbued with a sense of monumentality and links to history and culture – essential for this museum of 'living' antiquity."

A concrete roof overhangs the building. The photo is by Philippe Chancel

Foster + Partners won a competition to design the museum, previously named the Musée de la Romanité Narbonne, in 2012.

According to the studio, it is hoped to become a landmark for Narbonne and also help to "renew the image of the museum".

Lightwells puncture the concrete roof

"The arts are vital to the life of a city and a cultural building has the potential to reinvent and regenerate its 'sense of place', to break down physical and social barriers," added the studio's founder Norman Foster.

"Bringing together the old and the new, Narbo Via will renew the image of the museum, becoming not just a place for reflection but a creator of knowledge for future generations."

The museum's centrepiece is a large gridded shelving system. The photo is by Philippe Chancel

Inside, Narbo Via comprises a mix of galleries that support both permanent and temporary exhibitions.

Alongside them are research and storage facilities, as well as an education centre, auditorium, bookshop and restaurant.

The shelving contains Roman stone relics

The focal point of the interiors is the "Lapidary Wall" – a large shelving system full of ancient stone relics that separates the galleries from the restoration spaces.

The grid is reconfigurable and allows the public to see through into the restoration spaces to observe the work of archaeologists and researchers.

Large windows help filter light throughout the museum

The large concrete roof that overhangs the museum is elevated above clerestory windows and punctured by lightwells, which filter light throughout the museum with the help of large glazed bays.

Externally, the roof provides shelter for a series of walkways that surround the museum.

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It is not the first time that Foster + Partners has incorporated an overhanging roof in its work, with other examples being The House of Wisdom in Sharjah, Apple Sanlitun in Beijing and the PGA Tour HQ in Florida.

Together, the walls and roof help to regulate internal temperatures through thermal mass. Reliance on artificial heating and cooling is also reduced through the supply of cool air at a low level in the building, while hot air is pushed upwards and exhausted.

Roman artefacts found in Narbonne feature throughout the museum

Narbo Via is complete with a series of gardens and an amphitheatre for open-air performances and events. By the entrance, there is a ramp that leads down to a towpath beside the canal that links to the city's centre.

Elsewhere in France, Foster + Partners also recently completed Le Dôme, a winery hidden within the hills of Bordeaux, and a Parisian Apple Store with a kaleidoscopic roof.

The film and photography are byNigel Young of Foster + Partners unless stated.

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#cultural #all #architecture #france #concrete #museums #fosterpartners #colouredconcrete

RCR Arquitectes unveils luxury villa at Portugal's Palmares resort

Catalonian studio RCR Arquitectes has completed the first of eight luxury red concrete villas it has designed for the Palmares Ocean Living & Golf resort in the Algarve.

The Pritzer Prize-winning studio has designed all of the buildings for the seaside resort, including villas, hotels and a clubhouse building that opened in late 2020.

Villa 19 is the first of eight Signature Villas at the Palmares resort

Although there will be more than 100 villas in total, only eight will come under the title Signature Villas. This one, called Villa 19, is the first of those eight to complete.

What sets the Signature Villas apart is their size. Each one boasts four bedrooms and bathrooms, sea views, a large private swimming pool and a sizeable garden.

The building is constructed from red pigmented concrete

As with the other buildings at the Palmares resort, these villas are primarily formed of overlapping planes of red pigmented concrete.

Wall surfaces are angular rather than curvy, yet they still have an organic feel. Rooms are designed to fan out from one other, so there is no clear front or back to the building.

Overhanging roofs offer natural sun shading

"We have created the homes at Palmares not as objects implanted into the environment, but as spaces embedded into the topography, framing the landscape," explained Rafael Aranda, one of the three co-founders of RCR Arquitectes.

"The Signature Villas were developed with a unique relationship with the external natural environment, creating a feeling of privilege in this exceptional setting," he continued.

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Read:

RCR Arquitectes uses red concrete to build Palmares Clubhouse in the Algarve

](https://www.dezeen.com/2021/04/09/rcr-arquitectes-palmares-clubhouse-algarve/)

"It's a feeling that flows throughout each home, connecting people to the place in a very special way."

The first of the homes, the two-storey Villa 19, is organised around nine terraces so that indoor activities can spill outdoors.

The villa is organised around nine terraces

On the ground floor, the kitchen, dining room and living room are arranged in sequence along the first three of these terraces.

The swimming pool creates a nature divide between these more social spaces and a ground-floor bedroom, which opens out onto three further stepped terraces.

The concrete surfaces are exposed both inside and out

Upstairs, the remaining three bedrooms each have a terrace of their own.

The villa's other features include minimal floor-to-ceiling glazing, contemporary kitchens and overhanging roofs that offer natural sun shading.

The contemporary kitchen features a large island

Palmares Ocean Living & Golf is backed by developer Kronos Homes. The resort centres around a 27-hole course designed by golf architect Robert Trent Jones Jr.

Each of the resort's Signature Villas will boast a slightly different design, developed in response to the unique conditions of each site.

There are four bedrooms, each with their own terrace

RCR has also developed a standard design for Signature Apartments, which will be delivered in a later phase of the project.

Founded in 1988, RCR Arquitectes is led by Aranda alongside Carme Pigem and Ramon Vilalta, and is based in their home town of Olot, Catalonia.

Key projects from the studio include a "serene and restrained" Dubai apartment building and a steel-clad museum in France.

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Earth-toned concrete covers Casa Calafia in Mexico by RED Arquitectos

Named after a mythical warrior queen, this house by RED Arquitectos features arched doorways and windows that overlook the Pacific Ocean from Mexico's Baja peninsula.

The 200-square-metre house is located in Todos Santos, a town sat roughly midway between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas, in Baja California Sur – known for its beaches and warm weather.

RED Arquitectos designed Casa Calafia for an American couple who vacation in Mexico

An American couple commissioned Mexican studio RED Arquitectos to complete their holiday home, which is named Casa Calafia after a queen from local legend.

"Its name is inspired by a warrior from Baja California Sur," said studio founder Susana López González, referring to Califia – who first appeared in the 1500s novel Las Sergas de Esplandián ("The Adventures of Esplandián") by Spanish poet Garci Rodríguez de Montalvo.

Terraces on both floors have views of the countryside and the ocean

The fictional character signifies abundance, and over the centuries has come to represent a type of patron saint of the region, even lending her name to the modern state of California.

This powerful female icon, as well as the area's arid landscapes and views of the Pacific Ocean, led López González to develop a language of curved openings for the two-storey home.

"Formal expression through curves and sculptural geometry informs this second home on the Sea of Cortez," she explained.

A large terrace surrounds the home on the ground floor, and is slightly elevated to offer better views of its surroundings. The architect describes the cement-covered building as a "monolithic sculpture".

Similar to the exterior, interiors also feature pigmented concrete walls

"The house is built with concrete block, since it is the most accessible material in the area, and its exterior and interior are covered with cement and natural pigments," she said.

Two guest bedrooms are on the lower level, separated by an open-concept kitchen, living and dining room that faces the ocean.

Arched openings frame views from the bedrooms

Outside, a set of stairs leads to the upper level. The circulation is partially screened by a brick lattice, which harks back to an industry once present in the town of Todos Santos.

The main bedroom is located upstairs, with its own ensuite and a wraparound terrace that provides views on three sides.

The geometric architectural shapes are particularly pronounced at night

Pigmented cement covers most of the interior and exterior surfaces, lending the project a natural, uniform hue.

Several hospitality projects have recently been completed in the region. Other projects include a hotel made with traditional rammed earth walls and breezy thatched roofs by Estudio ALA, and a structure made of curved concrete walls for the Paradero Hotel.

The photography is by Miguel Angel Vazquez Calanchini.

Project credits:

Architect: Susana López González (RED Arquitectos)
Collaborator: Angélica Azamar Villegas
Construction: Rogelio Rojas Castro
Structural engineer: Apolinar Sanchez

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