Riparia Architecture Studio has completed an apartment building in a Mexican resort town that consists of three volumes, one of which has a large screen and "opens like a fan towards the jungle".
The Kokonut building is located in Akumal, a coastal town in the Yucatán Peninsula. It sits within the state of Quintana Roo and is about 30 kilometres north of Tulum.
The Kokonut apartment building is located in Akumal, Mexico
Riparia Architecture Studio, based in Mexico City, was tasked with designing an apartment building for a 1,019-square-metre, irregularly shaped site that is dotted with trees.
In response to the site's geometry and other constraints, the firm conceived a multi-storey building comprising three volumes ? a central, trapezoidal mass that is flanked by two rectangular structures. The building totals 1,427 square metres. Blockwork lattices allow light into circulation spaces
"The two side volumes are symmetrical, and the central one opens like a fan towards the jungle," the architects said.
The building is fronted by a parking area with permeable paving, enabling rainwater to infiltrate the soil below. A slender bridge connects the parking lot to the central volume.
Concrete blocks across the exterior are left unfinished
Precast concrete panels and concrete blocks were used to form the building's exterior walls.
"A strict logic was used for material placement, using only one direction for concrete and the other for cinder block ? giving...