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ARCHITECTURE / INTERIOR DESIGN

TEN arquitectos
Enrique Norten
Bernardo Gómez Pimienta

Like a cool ice cube standing on a hot street corner, Mexico City’s Habita signalled a new advent in hotel design when it opened in 2000 in one of the world’s most populous cities.

Initiated by the adventurous hotelier duo Carlos Couturier and Moises Micha, the Habita broke new ground in hotel design with its modern interiors wrapped sensationally in frosted glass panels. The complete makeover of the 50s building by Mexican architects TEN Arquitectos, lead by Enrique Norten and Bernardo Gómez-Pimienta, has the effect of encapsulating the 36-room hotel in a floating glass box suspended from the façade of the five-storey structure. The glass sheath serves as an “air-filled buffer”, a climatic and acoustic ingenious idea that also mediates the views while providing privacy. Sandwiched between the new and old facades are the original balconies and newly designed corridors. Fritz Hansen and Eames chairs are well placed throughout the hotel, and contemporary art is freshly served with the inclusion of a metal Jan Hendrix mural hanging in the reception area.

Following the austerity of the exterior look, only a bed and a cantilevered plane of glass, which serves as both desk and table, occupy the space of the guestrooms, everything else is concealed behind a polished panelled wall. This reduced aesthetic visibly expands the experience of the otherwise compact rooms. The daylight afforded by the large floor-to-ceiling glass window and door onto the balconies is aesthetically matched by Artemide and Flos lamps in every room. The two sheets of glass create an out-of-this-world atmosphere in the middle of the tree-lined Polanco district – which is transformed every night into a dazzling light show for everyone outside to enjoy at the push of a button: Guests simply create the golden glow by turning on their interior lights.