Mexican architecture studio Hemaa has renovated a dark grey house in Mexico City designed by modernist Mexican architect Augusto H Álvarez in the 1950s.
Local studio Hemaa based its renovation of Sierra Negra, which has undergone a number of remodels since it was first built by Álavrez, on the Mexican architect's original plans.

"After some research on the property, we were able to trace back to the original documents of the house, designed by the renowned Mexican architect Augusto H Álvarez back in the '50s," said the studio.
"We decided to align our proposal to the base grid plan of this construction, which assembles the distribution of spaces around four structural axes every four meters."

A series of thin grates are paired with blank surfaces on the three storey house's angular facade that is clad with dark grey stucco. The straight angles and materials used take cues from mid-century modern designs. "The intention is that of evoking the lines of mid-century modern architecture through materiality traits and the exaltation of order and structural elements," the studio continued.

While the front elevation has few windows to create privacy from the street, several rectangular windows, sliding glass doors and small porches cover the backside that overlooks a small fenced-in yard and patio space.

A boxy unit with an open roof protrudes from the top of the house to form the garden and terrace located on the top floor.

In contrast to...