Studio Surber Barber Choate + Hertlein Architects designed a luxurious family residence in the city of San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico, at the foot of the El Cerro de Chipink mountain range.

The complex configuration of the building, whose area is 929 square meters, is created by a combination of vertical concrete planes that form internal and external spaces flowing into each other. The main topics of study of architects are thus Transparency and Penetration.

Secondary forms, trimmed with black granite or contrasting white plaster, create more monolithic and closed volumes. The texture and color of granite rhyme with the mountain peaks rising very close. The coolness of the stone and concrete is contrasted with the warmer shades of wood that are used inside and out.

The inventive composition of planes forms portals creates negative spaces, frames the most expressive views, and provides a hierarchy of scales.

The construction of the house uses a passive solar design, which minimizes energy consumption; the collected rainwater is used for irrigation and supply of decorative fountains.

Photos: Phillip Spears