Zapopan, Mexico

Designed by Ricardo Yslas Gámez Arquitectos, Anteus Constructora Headquarters is a corporate building with adequate use of concrete details and finishes that fully integrates the company’s identity and values, located in Zapopan, Mexico.

The 1,880-square-meter building is developed within a six hectares plot. To design a complex that represented the company, both in its quality and processes, the architects use in-house construction systems and materials, such as post-insulated slabs, pre-tightened slabs, self-compacting concrete, tilt-up walls, and pre-cast lattices.

The project has been awarded a 2021 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.

The architect’s goal was to develop a two-story office building, exalted both outside and inside by its rough textures and volumetric shapes.

Inside, the concrete walls and structures have been left exposed, helping to create a cool and shaded space illuminated by large skylights.

The core of the project is dominated by a double-height central patio that houses a huge tree -which allows sunlight entrance and natural ventilation-, along with a large staircase surrounded by a crystal box and concrete lattices. 

Considering the type of project, the architects opted to design opened workspaces arranged around the patio, allowing the employees’ interaction, being the furniture and materials themselves the ones that divide the working areas. 

The inner structure and floor plan configuration offer various possibilities for a flexible working environment.

Besides the use of concrete, they integrate woodworks above different spaces, to generate a game of textures and contrast of lights and shadows.

In this way, the architects create a sober and contemporary atmosphere through the use of industrial and natural materials such as apparent concrete, wood, steel, and glass.

Outside the building, the user is invited to access through concrete walkers embraced by lattices and vegetation that isolates the employees from the industrial environment.

The parking garage and walkers integrate filtering materials and systems such as local stone, gravel, and permeable concrete.

Considering the immediate context, the building was projected to become a reference to the urban and built landscape. 

Our premise was to develop a complex surrounded by local and low-water consumption vegetation, merging the manufacturing plant and corporate building into its arid landscape.

In terms of sustainability, the project integrates passive concepts such as natural cooling, daylight illumination, and rain-water collection.

Besides, all the systems and materials were manufactured in-situ, helping to reduce the building footprint and carbon emissions.

Project: Anteus Constructora Headquarters
Architects: Ricardo Yslas Gámez Arquitectos
Design Team: Rodrigo Espínola, Marcos Morales Facundo, Alejandro Beyer, Juan Pablo Ochoa, and Roberto Dávalo
Client: Anteus Constructora
Photographer: Jaime Navarro