Purpose

The Édron Gallery is the first intervention to the old corporate building of Grupo Predeco, a company that manufactures and commercializes construction elements and materials in the Mexican southeast since more than 40 years ago. Édron is a Predeco brand specialized in permeable pavers. The objective of the project was to adapt an existing space to exhibit their products. However, the strategy was to make a more complex intervention in which other forms of applying their pieces could be shown, and how they could contribute to the architectural language and urban image of the region, as well as highlighting their capacity to generate sensory experiences.

Description

The building of which the Gallery is part was being underutilized due to a relocation of the corporate offices, whose use was reduced to a sales point and an audit office, which were left far away among themselves. The project incorporates a showroom to the aforementioned spaces, and concentrates them in a smaller area, freeing the rest of the construction for a second stage in which new uses will be incorporated, taking advantage of the commercial vocation of the lot.

The intervention consisted in constructing 2 parallel walls to the sidewalks to achieve a transition space between the existing construction and the street as an atrium, from where is the access to the closed exhibition room and to the new stairs that reach the rooftop, a designated area for temporary outdoor exhibitions, where also night events can be held. In the rooftop area, the audit office and a bathroom were built. The atrium has a fountain / water garden that refreshes air, generates sound, attracts birds and controls the natality of mosquitoes. This point is the space before the entrance to the exhibition room, an open and versatile space where products are exhibited in a museographic way, which coexists with the counter, paying stations, waiting room, meeting room, management office and restroom.

As the building is walked, visitors can interact with the elements offered by the brand, with which the entire building was made. These can be seen on the sidewalks, parking, walls and floors finishes, gardens and urban furniture. Among them stands out the rectangular permeable pave of 10x20x6cm with which the new walls that surround the building were formed, applied with the logic of brick walls, but with a product derived from the lime stone that abounds in the territory. Its arrangement forms empty spaces in strategic areas that allow the passage of air and natural light to the interior, and function as protectors against vandalism and hurricane winds. In interiors, a burnished stucco was used on walls and ceilings. The interior floors are made of polished white concrete. All stony origin chosen materials are used in an apparent way to save on maintenance, and in the same tonality to give a sense of unity. These contrast with metallic elements in black that respond to issues of corporate identity.

The project eliminated all parking spaces on the avenue, for the construction of a walkable sidewalk, equipped with urban furniture, lighting and endemic vegetation. In the corner, to the shadow of existing trees, a small square was generated. These interventions sought to provide the city with urban infrastructure that favors pedestrian displacements.

Interior

Drawings

Extra Info