Levering Trade

The Mexican design team wanted the building to state its industrial use through its form, inspired by the beauty of industrial structures where nothing is added for decoration. They took two classic elements of industrial architecture, the sawtooth roof and the Vierendeel beam.

Repeated along the facade, this system gives the building its character and relates it to a group of silos a few metres away. Variations in the system reveal the different interior needs of warehouse, offices and meeting rooms. At the corner the roof turns to face the side street with the entrance.

Built on a very low budget, the building uses simple materials. A steel lattice reduces solar gain and protects the windows from vandalism in a marginal area.