The ONTO Álvaro Obregón project is located in the Roma Norte neighborhood of Mexico City, on Álvaro Obregón Street, between Frontera and Mérida. This area is known for its mix of locals and foreigners, as well as its vibrant social life.

The architectural concept consists of a building that combines units for sale and rent, the latter under a hotel-style scheme in which investors purchase rooms and allow Grupo ONTO, owners of the property, to manage the rentals. It offers a complete experience for both foreign and national tourists seeking to live in the heart of Mexico City for short or medium stays.

It is a complex that optimizes space through a hybrid structure, combining prefabricated wood with steel elements in a double façade, supported by a beam structure. These beams are connected to concrete columns and pile foundations, reducing environmental impact while ensuring the building’s durability.

The grid-like double façade, composed of an exposed wooden structure, reveals the function of the building from the outside, with modular rooms visible from within.

This structure is also designed to act as a filter, controlling sunlight and allowing cross-ventilation, thus contributing to a comfortable indoor environment.

Due to the low soil consistency, detailed geotechnical studies were carried out to determine the most suitable foundation strategy, which includes piles and footings that evenly distribute the load.

One of the main challenges was ensuring that the wooden structure had sufficient strength so that, when combined with concrete columns, walls, and slabs, it could create spacious areas with generous ceiling heights.

The resulting joints blend aesthetics and functionality, using concealed steel connectors between the wood and concrete, producing a clean façade that appears as if solid wooden planks were simply stacked together.

The project responds to its urban context by setting back the façade to create a buffer of vegetation that partially insulates users from the noise of bustling Álvaro Obregón Avenue, the heart of Roma.

This green area at street level forms a hallway-like lobby leading to the building’s entrance.

The restaurant Rufus, located on the ground floor, connects the building to the neighborhood’s daily life, benefiting both the local economy and residents' quality of life.

The building is divided into two towers—one facing the main avenue and the other overlooking a rear interior garden. These are distinguished and connected by the extrusion of two half circles along the sides of the volume.

The resulting voids are designed to form patios at basement level, featuring gravel flooring, monolithic concrete benches, and lush vegetation including ferns, sago palms, and kentias.

These spaces of reflection and rest grow stronger with each level thanks to vertical gardens, creating the sensation that they extend all the way to the rooftop, accompanying users on every floor.

This design decision is complemented by a central ventilation shaft, which also reaches the roof and allows natural light to illuminate all floors, enhancing the user experience throughout the building.

Supporting this idea, the staircases become a sculptural statement, enhancing the spatial journey on each level surrounded by natural foliage.

Similarly, the apartment ventilation system uses this layout to position bathroom openings within these central shafts, discreetly hidden by narrow windows made from repurposed railroad ties.

The architectural program includes eight levels of housing: seven above street level and one basement level, featuring rooms with access to the rear garden.

Each level contains eight units, each with a bedroom, living room, dining area, kitchenette, desk space, bathroom, and a small balcony.

The top level features a public rooftop garden that frames the best views of Mexico City. It includes a bar and open-air dining area designed to foster interaction between residents and outside guests.

As mentioned, the project is accompanied throughout by vegetation, even up to the rooftop. This landscape design was created by Hugo Sánchez, who selected low-maintenance native plants with abundant foliage.

The project incorporates a rainwater harvesting system as a sustainable strategy, reducing tenant expenses and promoting more responsible water use.

The project’s atmosphere seeks to be sober and warm, with public areas like the lobby and rooftop garden featuring natural wood and granite in both fixed and movable furniture, always accompanied by strategically placed greenery.

Room finishes complement the wood beams and slabs with natural stone materials such as Caledonian granite, chukum-style plastered walls, and locally sourced textiles used in the furniture.

This interior design, by studio M:A, ensures ease of maintenance and seamless integration into the surrounding context, creating warm, livable spaces that enhance the residents' quality of life.

Guava and olive trees are incorporated into each apartment balcony, elevating the views and maintaining constant contact with nature.

The intent is for life within the project to contrast with the city’s hectic pace, allowing residents to disconnect from urban chaos.

The studio's signature approach is defined by a consistent rhythm and symmetry, integration of interior and exterior, structure and façade, and a strong focus on landscape design.

This project reflects those principles by combining clear, orderly geometry with a strong connection to nature and the urban environment. The grid-like façade and play of voids are distinctive elements that add coherence and clarity to the design.

What the firm finds most rewarding is having designed a building that contributes positively to its surroundings, improving the city's image while experimenting with new materials to deliver a successful project.

The opportunity to innovate with a wooden structure visible from the exterior all the way into interior spaces represented both an exciting challenge and a chance to explore sustainable and efficient construction solutions.

The result is a building that not only fulfills its role as housing but also enriches the urban landscape and provides a unique experience for its users by encouraging connection and community among visitors.