SQ72
A poetic high rise with large green balconies and careful attention to the individual residents
Name
SQ72
Client
UDI
Status
On going
Time span
2022-
Location
San Francisco, Panama
Size
9200 m2
Type
Housing
Budget
Confidential
Partner in charge:
Mathias Daniel Brockdorff
PAX Team:
Thomas Bossel
Mads Rudi Lassen
Andrea Margadji
Local Architects:
Urbanistmo
Visualizations:
KVANT1
PAX Architects
Horizontality
The task of creating a high rise involves complicated engineering and tends to become an ever search for developing the highest point in the city. Rather than focusing on verticality with the ambition of stretching higher in the cityscape, we proposed an alternative approach by keeping special attention to the individual apartments emphasizing the horizontality of the building.
We always spend time investigating the sweet spot between constraints and potentials, using local building techniques to overcome challenges and bring in added value.
Human scale
To accommodate the feeling of human scale we broke down the building into three different sizes of floor plates, which fostered large green common spaces at different levels. Our approach derived from our ambition of creating added value for both our clients as well as the residents.
At the very top of the high rise a common space with pools and workout areas offer spectacular views towards the ocean and the mountains.
The strong sun and the climate in Panama led to the horizontal design with large overhangs which provides shelter from the sun. Furthermore, an additional façade element consisting of perforated metal sheets provide shelter and filters light when the sun is at lower altitude. The curved metal sheets resemble the feeling of soft curtains bringing in lightness and ensuring a homely atmosphere already visible on the outside of the building.
In all housing projects we search for a homely feeling, no matter what scale we are working with.
The braveness of our clients and the paradoxes of challenging sites are often what leads to an unexpected unique design.
