The Tonalá 15 project, designed by CRB Architects, is a unique architectural intervention that successfully merges aesthetic restraint with thoughtful urban design. Located in the Roma neighborhood of Mexico City, this project embraces the challenge of a triangular plot at the busy intersection of Insurgentes Avenue and Tonalá Street. Through innovative use of space, materials, and form, Tonalá 15 contributes to the local urban fabric and promotes community interaction and sustainable practices.
Tonalá 15 Technical Information
- Architects: CRB Arquitectos
- Location: Tonalá 15, Roma Norte, Mexico City, Mexico
- Topics: Pigmented Concrete, Apartment Buildings
- Area: 3,350 m2 | 36,059 Sq. Ft.
- Completion Year: 2023
- Photographs: © César Bejar
The inspiration comes from the idea of creating an element that stands out for its simplicity and materiality while being integrated with the urban context.
– CRB Arquitectos
Tonalá 15 Photographs
Contextual Relevance and Urban Integration
With its eclectic mix of architectural styles and vibrant street life, the Roma neighborhood is one of Mexico City’s most culturally rich areas. CRB Architects approached this site with a deep respect for Roma’s character, seeking to create a building that integrates into its environment and enhances the urban landscape. Tonalá 15 addresses this goal with a refined aesthetic and functional design revitalizing its surroundings.
The triangular plot presented a significant spatial challenge, requiring careful planning to maximize utility and aesthetic impact. This unusual shape compelled the architects to adopt an innovative layout, enabling the building to integrate seamlessly with its urban surroundings. The structure’s sober, earthy tones and restrained material palette complement the area’s color scheme, allowing the building to blend with and elevate the existing architecture without dominating it.
Beyond aesthetics, the project aspires to positively impact the local economy and community, offering a mixed-use housing approach that accommodates short-term, medium-term, and permanent residents. This variety fosters diverse social interactions, creating a sense of community among tenants and supporting local businesses in Roma, ultimately enhancing the neighborhood’s livability and vibrancy.
Architectural Language and Design Intent
CRB Architects employ a minimalist yet impactful design language, focusing on simplicity, material integrity, and harmony with the surrounding context. Tonalá 15’s facades feature a clean, orderly grid structure, emphasizing verticality and creating visual rhythm along Insurgentes Avenue. Using pigmented exposed concrete in an earthy tone integrates the building into the urban context and ensures that it will develop a patina over time, further blending with the natural environment and aging gracefully.
A particularly striking element of the design is the tilted columns on the ground floor, which subtly lean inward, creating an inviting gesture toward the street. This design choice fosters a sense of openness, drawing pedestrians into the public plaza at the building’s tip. The mixed-use approach of Tonalá 15—combining residential spaces with commercial areas on the ground floor—reflects the architects’ intent to enrich the neighborhood’s social landscape. By offering spaces for varied uses, the building caters to a diverse group of inhabitants, enhancing the dynamic, multifaceted character of Roma.
Interior Experience and Functional Adaptability
Inside, Tonalá 15 continues to showcase CRB Architects’ commitment to thoughtful design, adapting to the limitations of the triangular plot to create a highly efficient layout. Each floor accommodates four apartments, ranging from 50 to 54 square meters, with carefully designed circulation paths that minimize distance from the entrance to each residence. The panoramic elevators and staircases optimize vertical movement and provide visual connectivity to the street, allowing inhabitants to feel connected to the urban environment even as they move through the building.
The material palette in Tonalá 15’s interiors reinforces its architectural themes of simplicity and warmth. Public areas feature durable granite and recinto stone, creating a sophisticated yet robust atmosphere, while private spaces incorporate New Navona marble and wood paneling to provide a softer, more inviting ambiance. The choice of materials creates a sense of unity across spaces, enhancing the building’s identity while allowing for distinct atmospheres that suit both communal and private settings.
Sustainability is integral to the building’s design, with features like a rainwater harvesting system, a “vertical oasis” of planted terraces, and bicycle parking in the basement. These elements reflect a commitment to reducing environmental impact and promoting green living, enhancing user experience and the building’s relationship with the urban landscape.
Structural Innovation and Technical Solutions
The structural design of Tonalá 15 is a testament to CRB Architects’ skill in addressing complex engineering challenges. The site’s low soil resistance required a deeply anchored foundation, with piles reaching 40 meters beneath the surface. This foundation supports a prefabricated formwork and a seismic isolation system, ensuring the building’s stability on a small, irregular plot. The choice of prefabrication streamlined construction, allowing the project to be completed in just 18 months despite the site’s limitations.
Attention to detail is evident throughout the building, from the ribbed pigmented concrete stairs that add a sculptural quality to the circulation core to the black slim carpentry system that enhances the building’s thermal and acoustic insulation. These carefully crafted elements elevate the functional components of the building, transforming them into architectural highlights.
Tonalá 15 Plans
Tonalá 15 Image Gallery
About CRB Arquitectos
CRB Arquitectos is a forward-thinking architecture firm known for its commitment to creating spaces that blend seamlessly with urban contexts while enhancing users’ quality of life. The firm integrates landscape and architecture, emphasizing sustainability, simplicity, and functional elegance across projects. Guided by a philosophy of material honesty and adaptability, CRB Architects excels in designing buildings that engage with their surroundings and foster social connections. Their designs are characterized by clean lines, rhythmic structures, and an enduring harmony between form and function.
Notes & Additional Credits
- Client: SEDE
- Design Team: Sebastián Canales, Javier Rivero Borrell, Regina Kuri, Carmen Alfaro, and Alejandra Álvarez
- Structure: Ubando Ingeniería (Óliver Ubando) and Amador Terán
- Construction: Secuencia
- Interior Design: Estudio M
- Total Investment: $29,000 per m²
- Plot Shape: Triangular
- Construction Area per Apartment: 50 – 54 m²
- Foundation Depth: 40 meters
