To solve this problem, HW-Studio chooses to keep part of the original materials and intervene by creating two elongated volumes, conforming to the plot. In turn, the volumes have a passable roof as a terrace with two perpendicular bridges that joining the set.
Description of project by HW-Studio
Located in the historic center of the city of Morelia - a few streets from one of the emblematic squares of the Las Rosas area -, our approach to this project began when the client commissioned us to adapt an abandoned warehouse of 8.00 x 40.00 meters, In a gastronomic market. Upon knowing the store, we liked the idea and the silence that was perceived (unusual quality in the center of a Mexican city), so that we visualized a great opportunity to combine our language with architectures of the past, and to explore the relationship and the dialectic between the two.
This winery has an interesting history, in the mid-16th century it worked as the backyard and cellar of a wealthy family of the time. However, over time, the reforms, the changes of ownership and the different uses of the place, modified the space and that it lost its essence. The site underwent several alterations, the roof was covered with aluminum sheets and the quarry walls were flattened with cement, a marble and resin floor, very characteristic of the 60s, was also placed. In summary, we concluded that the place had lost his soul and did not belong to his context.
The design process began with an analysis of the most popular and busy food places in the area. We discovered that public squares were the places where people gathered to eat; either a nearby restaurant, on the terraces or simply on a bench in the square. From there, we identify the main compositional elements of these sites: the axes, the paths, the volumes, the opening to the sky, the trees, the use of natural materials; which we interpret and integrate to our proposal. In relation to the floors and walls, we removed the alterations and later flattened, revealing the original quarry, reflecting an atmosphere similar to the squares of the historic center, so that users could easily identify with the project.
Our premise consisted in rescuing the original elements and with architectural value, while our intervention would have formally and materially a different value: a white and defined nature, which would demonstrate its presence and historical and conceptual moment. In this way, we seek that our proposal be integrated in harmony with the old, and that it allows its own expression.
We trace a tree-lined central avenue, flanked by two white volumes that take advantage of the length of the space, which give rise to the gastronomic premises. Above each of these, two other volumes in the form of an inverted "L" were assembled, which works to protect the table area on the ground floor, and create terraces on the upper floor. However, its most important function is to frame without exclusion, the different layers of architectural history, revealed over the centuries. In the same way, it is destined to cross the space and filter the light so that its presence is emphasized, and they become intangible protagonists of the place.
