CAET
editor Han Jeong-min writing Kim So-won edit Yejin Kim
Data provided Tayer de Arquiptura Miguel Monto
In recent years, the growth momentum of Trooper tool companies has increased. As more employees live than before, companies need to increase the size of in-house facilities used by employees, such as cafeterias, offices, and parking lots. The architectural design of the factory that would accommodate this had to be designed to improve the workplace environment so that employees could enjoy sufficient benefits.
Another important goal was to strengthen the company’s social role by establishing an education center to support employees’ children and the local community. This is part of a program to increase the level of educational environment in Jilotepec, Mexico, to improve the performance of academic activities. A future plan in which people from various backgrounds and age groups participate in the education center within the Trooper factory to continue follow-up research and monitor the results. It was built together.
The building is located in a narrow and long shape along the main road in the city, where hospitals, schools, and sports facilities are concentrated. Walls with strong colors, like the red soil of Mexico, reveal the identity of the place. It is an element that takes into account the relationship with the surrounding context, but as it is an educational facility, it is built high to reduce outside noise and connected at the same height along the arranged spaces. To prevent the high wall from functioning as a blocking retaining wall, narrow vertical windows were created regularly to create gaps, and in the upper mass, the wall was divided into certain units and angled according to the direction of the sun to create depth in the space and let in light. Meanwhile, the horizontal elements have a simple composition that is clearly distinguished from the vertical elements in gray tones.
A small square was created on the side facing the road. Because the building is a long linear structure, the plan was to reduce the proportion of the exterior wall that creates the boundary, and the office space was placed on the outermost side of the road, and the training room was placed inside the entrance connected to the plaza. The visually revealed volume of the building follows the scale of the surrounding buildings. A cafeteria was placed on the first floor to naturally increase openness so that outsiders could come and go freely, and attention was paid to indoor lighting and ventilation by appropriately planning the proportions of the duplex structure, skylights, and large windows. The actual openness of classroom walls reaches 50%.
The training center of the Trooper company is essentially in line with the nature of the training program. Accordingly, the plan that emphasized safety, transparency, order, and efficiency was expressed as tectonic architecture that focused on the function of space and simple aesthetic value using structure and materials rather than form or decoration.
Project: CAET / Location: Vicente Guerrero Pte. 98, La Merced, 54240 Jilotepec de Molina Enriquez, Mex. / Architect: Taller de Arquitectura Miguel Montor / Lead Architect: Miguel Montor / Project team: Pilar Rico, Iván Bustillos, Zaira Nieto, Jorge Olvera, Carlos Cardona / Project management: Pilar Rico / Structural engineer: EMACSA- Estructuras Metálicas de Aculco SA de CV / Installations: Instalaciones MICH / Equipmental engineer: Truper SA de CV / Mechanical engineer: EMACSA- Estructuras Metálicas de Aculco SA de CV / Electrical engineer: Instalaciones MICH / Lighting engineer: Instalaciones MICH / Landscape architect: Taller de Paisaje Entorno / Contractor: EMACSA – Estructuras Metálicas de Aculco SA de CV / Client: Truper SA de CV / Geolocation: 19°57’09.7”N 99°32’32.8”W 19.952686, -99.542444 / Use: Educational Support Center / Site area: 5,852.81m² / Bldg. area: 5,490m² / Gross floor area: 2,503.39m² / Bldg. coverage ratio: 58% / Gross floor ratio: 42% / Bldg. scale: zero story below ground, three stories above ground / Structure: concrete / Exterior finishing: colored concrete / Interior finishing: colored concrete / Material: concrete / Cost: around $5,500,000.00 MD / Design: Taller de Arquitectura Miguel Montor / Construction: EMACSA – Estructuras Metálicas de Aculco SA de CV / Completion: 2022 / Photograph: ©Onnis Luque (courtesy of the architect)
