International design firm Studio Aidia developed community center V OaxacaMexico complete with vaulted roofs which shade a series of screens consisting of squares specific blocks.
Known as Centro DIF Comitancillo, the 312-square-metre (3,362-square-foot) complex was completed in 2024 in the small town of San Pedro Comitancillo by Studio Aidia.
Situated on a main road but focused inward, the building is divided into five sections, each topped by a shallow, three-metre-wide vault, located on a site that previously housed a single-storey community centre.
“The building creates a simple sense of beauty by playing with different textures and patterns, and maximising the movement of light and shadow,” Aidia Studio co-founder Natalia Vrzask told Dezeen.
“It's a closed, small building with a mysterious façade that doesn't immediately reveal what's going on inside.”
The team chose different finishes and tones of concrete to highlight the different geometries. Curved elements such as the vaults and sculptural staircase, as well as the focal point forms on the south corner, have a smooth, semi-polished terracotta finish, while orthogonal forms are characterized by horizontal stripes with an earthy, sandy tone.
The building’s perimeter is shaded by a lattice of pigmented, textured concrete blocks with varying openings. The size of the openings in the blocks was “driven by solar incidence and internal views,” creating a ventilated façade that subtly changes with changing shadows and serves as a backdrop to the surrounding vegetation.
In addition to the concrete forms, the building is decorated with parota wood, as well as rough iron railings and window frames.
Entering through a terracotta-colored door on the north street, visitors enter through a narrow passageway into a large open patio with a sculptural staircase in the corner.
“By designing the building in an L-shape and moving some of the offices to the second floor, we were able to fit an outdoor terrace into the same narrow space, as well as a shaded event area,” Vrzask said, noting that the double-height space serves as a safe and welcoming place for community gatherings and dining.
Directly adjacent to the patio in the north corner is the kitchen and pantry with direct access to the outdoors.
Upstairs, behind glass sliding doors that provide natural ventilation, are a conference room and three offices, protected from Oaxaca's warm climate by a concrete grille.
Above the walls of the upper floor, under the arch of the vault, there are semicircular windows, providing natural lighting to the room and minimizing the need for artificial lighting.
“The new community centre replaced a small, dilapidated, single-storey building that lacked spatial quality and had very limited open space,” said Vrzask. “By redesigning the building’s programme, we were able to provide an open courtyard on the same cramped site, as well as a shaded event area. This gave the local community a new space that is used for meetings, workshops and other events.”
Previously, Aidia studio developed mosque in Preston, England, with a series of cascading arches and railway station in Tulum, Mexico, with a lattice roof resembling a turtle shell.
Photo courtesy of Aidia Studio.
Project loans:
Architects: STUDIO AIDIA
Project managers: Rolando Rodriguez-Leal, Natalia Vrzask
Lead Architect: Jose Luis Mulas
Project team: Nitze Magaña, Ernesto Pinto, Aransas Sanchez, Cecilia Simon
Structural Engineering: Project and calculation
Client: SEDAT