Add To Collection
Add to Collection
SM42
SM42
San Miguel Chapultepec, Mexico City, Mexico
View Original
Add To Collection
Add to Collection
View Original
Add To Collection
Add to Collection
View Original
Add To Collection
Add to Collection
View Original
Add To Collection
Add to Collection
View Original
Add To Collection
Add to Collection
View Original
Add To Collection
Add to Collection
SM42
San Miguel Chapultepec, Mexico City, Mexico
Firm
Type
STATUS
Concept
YEAR
2027
SIZE
25,000 sqft - 100,000 sqft
SM42 is a three-story multifamily housing project with 16 units located in San Miguel Chapultepec—a traditionally residential neighborhood in the heart of Mexico City that has recently seen a subtle urban renewal. Its proximity to Chapultepec Park, La Condesa, and strategic corridors like Paseo de la Reforma situates the project in a well-connected, tree-lined environment that blends family life, cultural activity, and urban mobility.
In this context, TAHR arquitectura proposes a design that engages with the area’s ecological and heritage character, responding to existing urban rhythms, scales, and vegetation. The proposal emerges from a careful reading of the site, seeking to integrate into its natural and social landscape without losing its neighborhood-scale identity.
The architecture is shaped by the presence of century-old trees on the lot, whose preservation became a core design premise. A protection radius around each tree defined a grid that organized both the buildable area and a system of seven voids for open-air patios. This logic enabled the development of cross-ventilated, naturally lit homes, each with a unique layout, contributing to a calm, green interior environment that reflects the identity of San Miguel Chapultepec.
These seven courtyards structure the project, organizing the volumes and articulating the program. Each unit opens onto these patios through windows, terraces, and vegetation, balancing openness and privacy.
SM42 contains 16 apartments distributed over three floors atop a semi-basement housing 50 parking spaces and shared amenities such as a gym, coworking space, meeting room, roof garden, and interior gardens. A diverse mix of units—from duplexes to apartments with private terraces—arose from the conservation-driven design approach, which diversified typologies across the site. Each dwelling features a unique configuration, varied orientations, and degrees of privacy, carefully avoiding direct visual overlap between neighbors.
One of the project’s key achievements lies in its capacity to generate typological diversity without compromising the site’s full development potential: 36640 sqft of built space on a 18,083 sqft lot with 30% open area. The design also carefully manages urban integration: a historic remnant of the main façade was preserved, and the building volumes adapt to the specific conditions of each boundary.
The architecture is perceived as seamlessly embedded in the neighborhood. The building steps away from adjacent structures, establishing a rhythmic composition that respects the existing fabric and urban scale. The street-facing elevation features a restrained composition of voids and surfaces in exposed concrete and brick. The first level, raised half a story above street level, ensures privacy, while the upper floors benefit from southern exposure and abundant daylight.
To the northwest, only one wall adjoins a neighboring two-story house, preserving the immediate scale. Toward the northeast, the building maintains distance from a modern work by Félix Sánchez—taken as a formal and urban reference—while to the east, it rests against a boundary wall beside a vehicular ramp, opening space toward adjacent neighbors.
The structural system incorporates a subtle gradation in column dimensions, tapering as the building rises—a constructive logic that also carries expressive intent. On the ground floor, openings are more compact and shaded with exterior wooden shutters—oscuros, as Luis Barragán called them—similar to those seen at Casa Gilardi, just 820 feet away. On upper levels, the apertures expand to maximize natural light and visual connection with the surroundings.
Materials such as exposed concrete and clay brick reinforce the project’s sober, durable, and honest character, establishing a continuous formal language between interior and exterior.
Ecological factors and site conditions were understood as opportunities to build architecture with identity. SM42 demonstrates that urban integration can yield housing solutions that actively reinforce the urban fabric. Rather than stand out through contrast, the project seeks continuity—contributing thoughtfully and positively to the collective life of the neighborhood.
In this context, TAHR arquitectura proposes a design that engages with the area’s ecological and heritage character, responding to existing urban rhythms, scales, and vegetation. The proposal emerges from a careful reading of the site, seeking to integrate into its natural and social landscape without losing its neighborhood-scale identity.
The architecture is shaped by the presence of century-old trees on the lot, whose preservation became a core design premise. A protection radius around each tree defined a grid that organized both the buildable area and a system of seven voids for open-air patios. This logic enabled the development of cross-ventilated, naturally lit homes, each with a unique layout, contributing to a calm, green interior environment that reflects the identity of San Miguel Chapultepec.
These seven courtyards structure the project, organizing the volumes and articulating the program. Each unit opens onto these patios through windows, terraces, and vegetation, balancing openness and privacy.
SM42 contains 16 apartments distributed over three floors atop a semi-basement housing 50 parking spaces and shared amenities such as a gym, coworking space, meeting room, roof garden, and interior gardens. A diverse mix of units—from duplexes to apartments with private terraces—arose from the conservation-driven design approach, which diversified typologies across the site. Each dwelling features a unique configuration, varied orientations, and degrees of privacy, carefully avoiding direct visual overlap between neighbors.
One of the project’s key achievements lies in its capacity to generate typological diversity without compromising the site’s full development potential: 36640 sqft of built space on a 18,083 sqft lot with 30% open area. The design also carefully manages urban integration: a historic remnant of the main façade was preserved, and the building volumes adapt to the specific conditions of each boundary.
The architecture is perceived as seamlessly embedded in the neighborhood. The building steps away from adjacent structures, establishing a rhythmic composition that respects the existing fabric and urban scale. The street-facing elevation features a restrained composition of voids and surfaces in exposed concrete and brick. The first level, raised half a story above street level, ensures privacy, while the upper floors benefit from southern exposure and abundant daylight.
To the northwest, only one wall adjoins a neighboring two-story house, preserving the immediate scale. Toward the northeast, the building maintains distance from a modern work by Félix Sánchez—taken as a formal and urban reference—while to the east, it rests against a boundary wall beside a vehicular ramp, opening space toward adjacent neighbors.
The structural system incorporates a subtle gradation in column dimensions, tapering as the building rises—a constructive logic that also carries expressive intent. On the ground floor, openings are more compact and shaded with exterior wooden shutters—oscuros, as Luis Barragán called them—similar to those seen at Casa Gilardi, just 820 feet away. On upper levels, the apertures expand to maximize natural light and visual connection with the surroundings.
Materials such as exposed concrete and clay brick reinforce the project’s sober, durable, and honest character, establishing a continuous formal language between interior and exterior.
Ecological factors and site conditions were understood as opportunities to build architecture with identity. SM42 demonstrates that urban integration can yield housing solutions that actively reinforce the urban fabric. Rather than stand out through contrast, the project seeks continuity—contributing thoughtfully and positively to the collective life of the neighborhood.
Product Spec Sheet
Were your products used?
Join as a manufacturer to add your products.