Casa Vertientes in Mexico City is a weightless balance of steel beams

On even the most cursory glance, Casa Vertientes – a sprawling family home in Mexico City’s Lomas de Chapultepec neighbourhood – makes two immediate impressions. The first is the unexpected clarity of its elevated plans. And the second is its unusual frame: the entire building practically hangs off large steel crossbeams that, in turn, anchors the retaining walls on either side of the building.
The unusual resolution arose as a response by the architects JJRR/Arquitectura + Area to the client’s brief for a four-storey family home that would allow a large number of members to interact in spaces that blended interior volumes with the sun-soaked exteriors. In turn, the steel cross beams that grip the retaining walls, both minimise load bearing walls, and amplify the porosity of the layout.
One of the design's key characteristics is its pronounced structural beams.
Using a metallic grid structure as a starting point, the architects say they began playing with the spaces as if on a chessboard, settling finally on a scheme that involves a sequence of glass walls that pull apart to subliminally draw interior rooms into outdoor terraces. In something of an understatement, they add, ‘You can find many windows in this house. They help achieve transparency and harmony between interior and exterior.’
The orientation of the plot was also a factor in the finished design, the architects careful to pull the profile of the house towards the south to ensure the day-long flow of light into the interiors, while hanging pergolas from the beams at strategic points to create striated shade over the generously proportioned terraces.
The final effect is one of weightlessness, which the architects cannily reinforce in the interior volumes by avoiding concrete surfaces where possible – except in the stairwells – and opting, instead, for glossy marble bathrooms, walls and ceilings constructed mainly from timber, and floors sheathed in light oak.
One of the design's key characteristics is its pronounced structural beams.
Lots of outside spaces in the form of gardens and terraces dot the design.
A porous design with large openings blends inside and out.
The overall effect makes for an especially light volume.
Meanwhile, inside the house is warm and welcoming, featuring open plan living areas.
Information
For more information visit the JJRR/Arquitectura + Area website
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Daven Wu is the Singapore Editor at Wallpaper*. A former corporate lawyer, he has been covering Singapore and the neighbouring South-East Asian region since 1999, writing extensively about architecture, design, and travel for both the magazine and website. He is also the City Editor for the Phaidon Wallpaper* City Guide to Singapore.
-
In Shanghai, Hermès conjures a ‘cosmopolitan explorer’ for its one-off show on the Huangpu River
Nadège Vanhée, artistic director of Hermès’ womenswear collections, presented ‘The Second Chapter’ of her A/W 2025 collection earlier this evening (13 June 2025) against the futuristic skyline of Shanghai
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the week
It was a jam-packed week for the Wallpaper* staff, entailing furniture, tech and music launches and lots of good food – from afternoon tea to omakase
-
Peugeot brings back a classic performance badge for the electric era: meet the E-208 GTi
Peugeot has unveiled the new E-208 GTi, a performance EV designed to hark back to a golden age of compact sports cars
-
In Quintana Roo, a park mesmerises with its geometric pavilion
A Mexican events venue in the state of Quintana Roo rings the changes with a year-round pavilion that fosters a strong connection between its users and nature
-
Casa La Paz is a private retreat in Baja California full of texture and theatrics
Ludwig Godefroy designed Casa La Paz in Baja California, Mexico to create deep connections between the home and its surroundings
-
Pedro y Juana's take on architecture: 'We want to level the playing field’
Mexico City-based architects Pedro y Juana bring their transdisciplinary, participatory approach to the Mexico pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025; find out more
-
Tour the wonderful homes of ‘Casa Mexicana’, an ode to residential architecture in Mexico
‘Casa Mexicana’ is a new book celebrating the country’s residential architecture, highlighting its influence across the world
-
A barrel vault rooftop adds drama to these homes in Mexico City
Explore Mariano Azuela 194, a housing project by Bloqe Arquitetura, which celebrates Mexico City's Santa Maria la Ribera neighbourhood
-
Explore a minimalist, non-religious ceremony space in the Baja California Desert
Spiritual Enclosure, a minimalist, non-religious ceremony space designed by Ruben Valdez in Mexico's Baja California Desert, offers flexibility and calm
-
La Cuadra: Luis Barragán’s Mexico modernist icon enters a new chapter
La Cuadra San Cristóbal by Luis Barragán is reborn through a Fundación Fernando Romero initiative in Mexico City; we meet with the foundation's founder, architect and design curator Fernando Romero to discuss the plans
-
Enjoy whale watching from this east coast villa in Mexico, a contemporary oceanside gem
East coast villa Casa Tupika in Riviera Nayarit, Mexico, is designed by architecture studios BLANCASMORAN and Rzero to be in harmony with its coastal and tropical context