FECHAC Regional
Office, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
In a time of uncertainty and crisis, the counselors of the
Chihuahua’s Businessmen Foundation, (FECHAC) for its acronym in Spanish,
decided that instead of retracting their intention to build their own
headquarter offices, and keep renting their former building, they opted instead
quite the opposite, they asked for an “emblematic or iconic” building, to show
that the Foundation was in favor of investing in hard times, create jobs, and
promote their commitment and show permanency and strength in these difficult
times.
The project, located in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, a city trying to
revert the negative image it has on the international community, being one of
the strongholds of the war against drug trafficking being fought in Mexico.
Another message sent by the Foundation was that they are concerned
about the environment as the building was planned as a sustainable project,
their former building was very inefficient and every dime spent on utilities is
a resource not spent on the community.
On the two levels and 15,600 sq. ft. building we applied a range
of sustainable strategies, including landscaping and green roofs, façade sun
shades from Hunter Douglas, double pane glazing with Low E, Variable Air Volume
HVAC system, and low maintenance materials throughout the building.
There is enough natural light throughout the office areas to work
during most of the day without any artificial lighting, as in the lobby and in
the multi-use / banquet room.
The concept that shaped the building comes from the values that
shaped the Community Foundation, which are these four: Giving, Subsidiarity,
Solidarity, and Common Good. These four values are represented on the four
tessellated aluminum panel volumes that make the area of the building that
holds the offices, these volumes are as if they have always being there, they
are permanent, unmovable, they don’t change, like four giant stone blocks. As
the core values of the foundation they are not replaced or removed by time or
events. As a similitude with the stone heads on Easter Island, they watch over
their people, their community.
The green roof of the building, it is organic and variable, the
color of the leaves and flowers on the plant selection will make a living mural
facing the street, and it will be changing according to seasons. Other aspect
of the building that will be changing with time is the tessellated façade,
first with daylight, hitting the volumes with a different angle, intensity and
color of sunlight, the building looks different during the day and specially with
the warm dessert light at sunset. After this, the selection of LED color
changing lights that illuminate the façade portrays an array of shades and
colors during the night.
Composite aluminum panels were one of the key elements for the
construction of the building, the geometry on the tessellated façade was a main
concern among the design team… none of the big installers in the area were
willing to work the aluminum sheets in one piece, they wanted to have silicone
joints where we wanted just folds, so we had to train ourselves a group of skilled
carpenters lead by a “MacGyver” type general contractor who was willing to
break paradigms on how to work and install the panels and also a way to
prefabricate the complete facades on the ground, including the structure that
supports it, covering it with the aluminum panel sheets, and then lifting the
whole module with a crane to its final position. This allowed us to reduce
construction times, costs, and reduce the risk of working with a 5 x 18 ft.
piece of aluminum with folds on several directions on top of scaffolding
structures in order to install them. On top of all this, using the panel sheets
almost in one piece, left us with very little waste, which we used on the sides
of these tessellated elements as a design intent, coming to a maximum 3% waste for
the whole job on the aluminum elements.
As an anecdote the building has become an icon and a part of the
community and in the few weeks since its opening has hosted several events in
the banquet room, has being the backdrop on high school and university class
photos and even newlyweds have come for their studio pictures.
At night hosting a parade of visitors and couples that park in
front of the building to look at the varied chromatic effect that the LED
lights offer.
Grupo ARKHOS, is a Design Firm Cofounded in 2008, by architects
Ruben Escobar-Urrutia, LEED AP BD+C, and Ricardo Pacheco-Lopez. We have worked
on a very varied array of projects, from student centers and classroom university
buildings, office buildings, restaurants, a 60,000 square meter Convention and
Exposition Center and two 10 story IT development buildings, many of them
seeking a LEED certification.
We have offices in Juarez Mexico and in Mexico City. Our design
approach is always towards sustainability and innovation.
www.grupoarkhos.com
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