El Tirón by FMT Estudio

Yucatán, México

Photo © Zaickz Moz

Location: Itzimná, Mérida, Yucatán, México
Project size: 1,560 square feet

Program: To make use of a long and irregular infill lot, Mérida, Mexico–based FMT Estudio developed an unconventional approach when designing El Tirón. The architects “deconstructed” a traditional residence into a disaggregated, linear sequence of alternating interior and exterior rooms. With each successive volume, the spaces become more and more private.

Design Solution: As the architect contends, El Tirón “questions the need to have a single space as a living area” and “seeks to be in the most minimal way possible.” The first volume, closest to the street, houses a double-height studio fitted with its own kitchenette, dining area, and a lofted sleeping space. An adjacent outdoor corridor then leads to an open, sun-filled courtyard and pool.

Beyond this space, at the core of the plot, a large zapote tree stands in the center of an intimate courtyard, framed by a privacy wall, and provides covered passage into another of the house’s volumes—one accommodating a full kitchen. This is the social center of the house, given the client’s joy of cooking and entertaining.

After the kitchen, another outdoor space leads to a flexible volume that acts as a privacy buffer from the very last structure, tucked under the tree canopy at the rear of the property: a primary bedroom suite. The concept, says the architect, is based on “the permanence and fluidity of space.”

Photos © Zaickz Moz

Structure and Materials: A concrete frame structures the house’s many volumes, while stuccoed vibro-pressed blocks form the walls. Throughout, raw and exposed materials are balanced by more refined finishes, such as marble and polished concrete in the bathrooms. The foundation was constructed of hewn stone footings and a mix of cement, sand, and gravel that was precisely executed to avoid harming tree roots.

Additional Information
Completion date: January 2023
Site size: .074 acres
Total construction cost: Withheld
Client/Owner: Pedro Gamboa

Photos © Zaickz Moz

Image courtesy FMT Estudio; click to enlarge

Credits

Architect
FMT Estudio
C. 84 512, Paseos de Pensiones
Mérida, Yucatán, México, 97219
+52 99 96 42 34 19
www.fmtestudio.com

Project team
Creative directors: Zaida Briceño Ramos, Orlando Franco Carrillo
Design lead: Natalia Barroso Osorio
Site supervisor: Diana Araujo Durán

Consultants
Surveyor: Armando Puc

General Contractor
CAMRSA

Photographers
Zaickz Moz (project photography), Diafragmas (before image)