Mexican studios Espacio 18 Arquitectura and Cueto Arquitectura have renovated a narrow infill property in Oaxaca, Mexico to create apartments within a space built up with different styles over the years.
Known as Matamoros 402, the building was completed in 2024 with 11 apartments in 785 square metres (8,500 square feet).
Matamoros 402 is an apartment block in Oaxaca's old town
Espacio 18 Arquitectura and Cueto Arquitectura collaborated with the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) to rehabilitate the property and generate more multifamily housing in the City of Oaxaca's Historic Center.
"The project is based on the concern of obtaining a relationship between the preexistence and the architectural intervention of the new proposal," the team said. Espacio 18 Arquitectura and Cueto Arquitectura renovated a narrow infill property
"Historical elements are recovered to extend their useful life and in parallel structural elements are created to generate tectonics with the new volumes.
The property previously included a rundown portion of a house that was divided by multiple family members. The plot ? measuring 9.70 metres (32 feet) wide by 46.5 metres (153 feet) long ? contained a portion of a historical building that had to be "respected, recovered and rehabilitated".
In addition to two large African tulip trees in the centre of the site, the historic designation limited the design to 7.2 metres (24 feet).
The house "invites you to ...