The 'elena garro cultural center' by mexican architects fernanda canales and arquitectura 911 renovates an early 20th century home on fernandez leal street and converts it into a cultural center for the community. the intervention can be experienced in three primary design moves a boxed concrete extension meeting the street that frames the original facade of the existing home, a series of exterior courtyards creating an exterior path for gatherings of various sizes, and a three-storey rectangular volume at the back of the residence that contains a multi-purpose room, storerooms, and a parking lot on the ground floor.
The first new element, creating a new street-side facade, features a cast-in-place rectangular concrete volume like a contemporary portico within a full-height glass screen that preserves the original 20th century facade and entry porch, preserving as well the two trees that puncture through the annexed shell. the public space is a light-filled library with double height book shelves periodically interrupted by square windows. the old house is repurposed as the main library, with tall ceiling heights and voids in the floor plane visually connecting the two floors and a staircase at the rear of the structure linking all functions of the construct.
A small courtyard with a transparent elevator acts as the anchor for the project, exposing the larger scale of the construction as guests move between levels. a local material palette is present throughout the project further uniting the new and old components,with tzalam wood and gray granite used in the interiors and volcanic stone as the exterior cladding. all new interventions have also been designed to be removed without causing any permanent damage to the historical residence. the new structures also feature green roofs that extend the courtyard gardens on the ground floor designed by hugo sanchez and tonatiuh martinez of entorno, that masterfully integrates vegetative elements into the build elements and places the existing trees within a hierarchy of space from the exterior to interior.