Darcons gets Proces-designed headquarters in Mexico
Arquitectura en Proceso, the Mexican architectural practice, has designed the headquarters of Darcons, the construction company in Chihuahua, Mexico, featuring an open plan design honoring office hierarchy.
The office located in the suburban city of Delicias in Chihuahua, is clad in a transparent material. The unique material offers view through it and at the same time functions as the opaque continuous skin defining the shape of the frame. The transparent skin is meant to protect the interior from harmful UV rays.
The peculiar skin of the building differentiates the public space from the internal activities of the company. The main reception and the public space are arranged in a raised platform of the building outside the envelope. This helps the public space to have a self defined entity.
The internal operational space is arranged inside the envelope. The space flawlessly flows through out the building in a three dimensional open plan. The open plan is designed to honor the hierarchical organization of the company.
In order to carry through the flow without disruption, the mass of the building has been divided into different transversal slices. Each slice represents an intentionally different profile, and two of them define the geometry of the north and south elevations. The sequential juncture of all the slices creates deviations and convergences between the internal operational route and the external costumer route.
Three rotated orthogonal axis structures determine the geometry of the volume. This simplifies the space complexity. The west elevation is designed to minimize direct sun exposure.
The building appears aligned with the road resembling the arched gate of a medieval town. The landscape compliments the rural fields that surround the city. The design of the building, along with integrating the surrounding landscape elements, also clearly demarcates the intercity from the suburbs.
