Commercial / Public
Guaynabo Town Center
This 25,000 sm. lot is located within the urban core of the Guaynabo township. Previously the location of the market square and post office this site has strong ties to its neigborhood community.
The development of the property will be the result of combined efforts of the municipal government and private developers. Their commun goal is to develop a project that will not only provide ammenities but ultimatly re activate the towns urban core.
In order to maintain operational costs low the client desired to maximize open and cross ventilated spaces within the building creating a variety of interconnecting terraces that organize the buildings program. The use of these terraces also take advantage of views toward the urban core and the dense vegetation and creek that surround the site on two sides. The building program includes a hybrid food court/market place, restaurants, movie theater, an ATM banking cluster, commercial spaces and a new post office.
Luquillo Condo-Hotel
This 3.4 acre lot is located two blocks away from the luquillo beach front on the main access roadway. The site is also located beside the local arts theater complex and anphitheater.
The proposed building will contain 13,000 sf of comertial space sublet to a retail drugstore chain on its ground level. The remaining floors will be dedicated to a condo-hotel targeting retired and elderly clients that have extended stay periods avoiding the cold weather of their native climates.
The design incorporates ammenities focused on providing services to an aging population. Commun areas include dinning facilities, multi-use room, spa, beauty salon, physical, psychological and social therapy facilities along with active spaces such as excercize rooms, exterir terraces and a pool area are provided. All condo-hotel rooms shall be suites providing independant cooking, dinning, living and sleeping areas for its ocupants.
Las Hermanas Office Building
This 3,500 sf. lot is located near the urban core of Bayamón township. Previously a mainly residential area is rapidly changing to a commercial environment of medical offices due to its proximity to the HIMA San Pablo Hospital.
The smallest lot between two larger properties is restricted not only by its size but also by its zonning clasification that differ from both of its neighbors. Required setbacks and the angled front configuration of the site determined the volumetric expresion of the elements of the building.
The design had to maximize office space in relation to the parking area as required by its zonning clasification. This condition led to the design of a lateral core containing all vertical and access circulation along with service areas. This concept freed both the ground level parking area as it did the open office space of the next three levels.
CADITA
The spanish acronym translates as: The Academic and Integral Development Center of Toa Alta.
The project responds to the growing need of providing the adolescent and high school community with a safe environment for recreation and academic development.
The proposed facility provides areas as a library and study hall, a small auditorium for conferences & the projection of movies, a multiple station video game room, an activity room with ping pong and pool tables and access to exterior playground areas. The programmatic combination intends to provide not only a safe environment but also one that would be attractive to the targeted population. The use of the auditorium will extend to the community addressing educational programs and other community activities.
Arroyo Water Front
The project is born as the first piece of a plan to revitalize the urban core of the Municipality of Arroyo. It is also the first effort to rescue the towns water front along with its pier and public marina.
The disposition of all the architectural elements create a new pedestrian pathway that takes advantage of its costal location and brings the people closer to the waters edge. Views are maximized for the visitors experience and are inviting not only from a pedestrians point of view but also from a vehicular perspective.
The architectural vocabulary evokes images of sails and other subtle forms related to the sea that is deeply ingrained within the townships history and culture.
Plaza Artesanal
The project is the second component of a plan to revitalize the urban core of the Municipality of Arroyo complimenting the Arroyo Water Front project located across the street on its southeast half. The southwest half of the site where the Artisan Plaza is located faces a beach front on the other side of the same street.
The project integrates 8 artisan booths, services and an open pavilion with small amusement park amenities such as a Ferris wheel, a carrousel and a children’s roller coaster.
The architectural vocabulary takes advantage of the use of wood construction for a more rustic and artisanal image combining roof forms that evoke images flight animals abundant in the area.
Mental Health Center Rehabilitation
An abandoned wing of the existing Mental Health Center was the only viable site for the establishment of an emergency stabilization ward and patient dormitories for longer term treatments. The budget, site and specific code restrictions were the main challenges of this project.
The remote access and limited visual presence of this wing required a more aggressive exterior expression of the architectural elements. In contrast, a more subtle and toned down approach to the interior was necessary to promote a calming and reflexive atmosphere required for the recuperation of the mental conditions of its occupants. These design criteria's in addition to security concerns were paramount in the development of the architectural vocabulary and use of natural light within the project.
Mountain Bike Course & Club House
The project consists of a reception center or club house that will serve as a portal for the proposed bike courses and routes .
The club house will accomodate administrative offices, retail space, a cafeteria with an open terrace, bathrooms, bike cleaning areas and maintenance facilities.
The architectural vocabulary has strong references to the sport by way of the curved elements that can relate to wheels and cogs in addition to be scaled for the transit of bicycles. The design is also defined by its sustainable principles such as the use of solar panels that double as shading elements, water collecting roofs, recicled materials, etc. The building is elevated with overhanging decks to minimize its footprint in an environmentaly sensitive area.
Utuado Community Mausoleum
The Municipal Cemetery of Utuado Puerto Rico is reaching its full capacity. To mitigate limited available space for the burial of citizens they decided to plan the construction of comunity mausoleums in order to maximize the properties use.
Within the cemetary the only available site was a sloped lot overlooking the burial plots with a view to the mountains beyond. The sites condition inspired the development of contiguous courtyard terraces outlined by the mausoleum structures.
The courtyard arrangement creates a contemplative space that opens to the existing view.