International Architecture Awards Tell a friend

Mexico City, Mexico | 2016

Architects: LegoRogers (Collaboration between Legorreta + Legorreta + Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners) 
Design Team (Legorreta + Legorreta): Ricardo Legorreta, Víctor Legorreta, Miguel Almaraz, Adriana Ciklik, Carlos Vargas, Miguel Alatriste, Víctor Figueroa, Mariana Gómez, José Luis Barrera, Gerardo Martínez, Alejandro Ramírez, Guillermo Mateos, Óscar Islas, José Luis Corona, Diego Cuevas, Armando Echávez, Satoshi Kawakami, Tania Bárcena, Andres Martinez – Lanz, Jorge Vallarta, Alejandro Zamna, Francisco Espinosa, Samuel Corona, Lourdes del Val, Daniela Muñoz, Emmanuel Pérez, Fernanda Argüello, Luis Antonio Oviedo, Álvaro Hernández, Margarita Castro, Xavier Valladares, Berenice Corona, Gerardo González, Francisco Toledo, Roberto López, Noé Báez, Miguel Ángel Aguilar, Ivan Torrejón, Regina Martínez, Francisco Arellano, Oswaldo Anaya, Fredy López, and Joel Rojas.
Design Team: (Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners): Richard Rogers, Graham Stirk, Ivan Harbour, Mike Davies, Lennart Grut, Andrew Morris, Richard Paul, Ian Birtles, Simon Smithson, Tracy Meller, John McElgunn, Stephen Barrett, Andrew Tyley, Stephen Light, James Leathem, Georgina Robledo, Mark Darbon, Mark Gorton, Douglas Paul, Dennis Austin, Matt Cooper, Benjamin Darras, Michael Hughes, Dirk Krolikowski, Leonardo Pelleriti, Barbara Perez, James Stoops, Simon Tonks, and Alex Zimmerman.
Interior Architects: LegoRogers and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP.
Client: Grupo Financiero BBVA Bancomer
Contractors: Turner Construction Company/ Marhnos Construcciones S.A. de C.V. 
Structural Engineers: ARUP, Colinas de Buen S.A. de C.V.
Landscape Architects: Espacios Verdes S.A. de C.V.
Photographers: Roland Hable

The 50-storey office tower is the first completed building by LegoRogers, a collaboration between two international architectural practices: the Mexican firm LEGORRETA®, and the British firm Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.

The architecture brings together both practice’s different architectural languages yet common values to create a building that is both contextual and distinctive.

Located on the Paseo de la Reforma, the tower marks a gateway to Chapultepec Park with sky gardens overlooking the city and the park. The architecture aims to promote a sense of community and interaction between staff.

On the ground floor, the triple-height lobby sits on the corner of Paseo de la Reforma, which links the daily operations of the bank branch with executive-level commercial businesses at higher levels. In the lobby, glass elevators face the park and will transport visitors arriving by foot, as well as the employees up to the sky lobby at level 12.

The sky lobby is a window to the city and the park. This area will be used for exhibitions and public events and connects the hall and dining room with terraces overlooking Chapultepec Park. At this level security manages visitor access to the building. The VIPs and executives access the building through a separate lobby on the ground floor, with a dedicated access area for vehicles to guarantee a high level of security and privacy. The executive elevator offers direct access to the top executive floors and discreet access to public floors of the building, including the heliport.

The building’s main structure is externally expressed to provide flexibility in planning internal office spaces. The external braced frame provides the seismic structural system to the building allowing the core to be arranged diagonally organising office space on two sides. The result moves away from the traditional centre core, four sided floor layout and responds to the spectacular views towards the city and Chapultepec Park.

Sky gardens every nine floors create outdoor space within the tower and provide meeting and break-out areas where people can enjoy spectacular views of the city. The façade design is inspired by the Mexican traditions and architectural heritage.

The geometry of the diagonal structure is used to create a lattice frame to protect the façade from direct light and heat from the sun.

As a result, the building has been awarded a Gold LEED energy standard. The tower provides 78,800m2 of prime office space for BBVA Bancomer and can accommodate 4,500 members of staff.