House 6, Apan Housing Laboratory

Project Details

Project Description

This project is part of the Apan Housing Laboratory, which is featured in the August 2019 issue of ARCHITECT.

FROM THE ARCHITECTS:

Understanding housing in Mexico as partly an infrastructural problem, defined by the precarious access to basics like potable water and electricity, this proposal imagines a CMU and cast-concrete water tower or tank house. Basic units are equipped with underground and elevated water-storage tanks that hold enough water to meet the weekly intake of 160 people (35 families).

Notes: Capable of storing and distributing water to up to 35 residences, of greatest significance in this project is its social-infrastructural contribution. Scaling up vernacular, rooftop water storage—that is, tinaco—the unit’s primary element is its particular contents; the urban impact of traditional rooftop water tanks is similarly exaggerated in the monumental verticality of this four-storey water tower. Reflecting its social-infrastructural origin, this unit is only duplicated with an increase in communal needs or an expansion of its distribution network.

Project Details:
State: Campeche
Municipality: Champoton
Climate: Warm humid
Constructed Surface: 61.20 M2
Floor-to-ceiling height: 3.15–4.10 M
Roof Type: Flat
Orientation: N–S–E–W
Growth Option(s): Interior
Wall Type: CMU
Floor Type: Exposed Concrete Slab
Structure: CMU; Concrete Slab and Joists
Roofing: Concrete Slab
Details: Cedar Doors and windows
Finishes: Whitewash or Lime Paint

Project Credits:
Project: The Water Tower by Zooburbia for Apan Housing Laboratory
Architects: Zooburbia