The new Acapulco City Hall brings together, for the first time, 37 city agencies into one building, integrating the various departments through open and shared public spaces, while simultaneously retaining a sense of their independence. Embracing Acapulco’s modernist architecture from the 1950s, the design is made up of four boxes, which are suspended from a large cantilevered structural roof to increase transparency and free circulation at the ground level.
By stacking the boxes, each administrative section has its own terrace level, used for public and private events. The blurred boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces, and the porous flow of circulation threaded through the various departments push the limits of traditional security restrictions of typical city halls, encouraging increased communication with the public and community use of shared civic spaces.
In the tropical climate of Acapulco, the unifying roof structure overhead provides much-needed shade that reduces the need for air conditioning, and offers comfortable cool spaces for the public. The 103,075 square feet of roof surface area collects and recycles water, providing 92 percent of water used by the building, and is lined with operable solar panels that generate 60 percent of the building’s overall energy needs.
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