horacio apartment

Year:
2025

Area:
200 m²

Location:
Mexico city

Project Managers:
Daniela Santamaría | Sayuri Moreno | Frida Félix | Jonathan Rosales

Implementation Team:
Alonso Martinez

Photo:
Alejandro Ramírez

Interior Design | Furniture Design and Manufacturing

Residential Project

Horacio marks the fourth chapter in a collaboration that began with the Ennea project and has since unfolded through trust, aesthetic sensitivity, and creative affinity. Following San Felipe and Mazul, this commission in Mexico City offered the chance to reinterpret that shared vision within an urban context. More than an assignment, Horacio represents the privilege of working with clients whose outlook both inspires and challenges the studio.

Where earlier projects had been conceived in residential or vacation settings, Horacio was imagined as a short-term rental. This called for a balance between the family’s own needs and the creation of an environment appealing to a wide range of guests. Guided by this premise, the team pursued a contemporary, daring, and vibrant aesthetic—one that stands apart from the typical choices for temporary lodging in the city.

 

One of the project’s defining achievements was transforming a generic apartment, marked by careless finishes and little character, into a bold visual statement. As with many buildings of its kind, the property came with aesthetic and structural limitations, but these were embraced as opportunities. Key areas were spatially reconfigured through custom ceilings and strategic lighting, introducing hierarchies and atmospheres that elevate daily living.

The material palette was carefully curated: lacquered oak and walnut woods, volcanic stone, natural textiles, and metallic accents that add both tactile and visual richness. Rugs—developed in collaboration with a workshop in Oaxaca, the clients’ hometown—emerged as iconic pieces, engaging in dialogue with the bespoke furniture and reinforcing the identity of the space. Together with the sculptural bookshelf and booth-style seating in the living room, these elements encapsulate the project’s audacious spirit.

Every choice, from the color palette to the smallest accessory, was deliberate. To distinguish areas, paneling in varied tones was introduced, ensuring each space conveyed comfort without slipping into predictability. The most demanding challenges were not design-related but technical: numerous architectural flaws inherited from the original development required inventive solutions. Correcting them called for a sharp eye, patience, and painstaking attention to detail.

On the implementation side, anchoring furniture to drywall required structural planning in advance. Seamless coordination between construction, design, and fabrication proved essential—especially since the clients were absent throughout the process and only encountered the finished space upon delivery.

Furniture and accessories were sourced from a wide range of studios and brands—including Cuchara, David Pompa, Casa Quieta, Taller Maya, Originario, and Tributo, among others. This diversity of voices coalesced through a clear visual narrative, resulting in a space where luxury is expressed through contrast, expressiveness, and artistic sensibility—transforming the everyday into experience.

The clients were delighted, even astonished, to see their personality reflected in a functional yet vibrant environment. For the team, Horacio stands as a project rich in lessons on design direction, technical problem-solving, and the power of working with creative freedom within a framework of trust.