The new Belgian Embassy Mexico

The competition proposal for the new Belgian Embassy and two staff residences in Mexico City takes the form of an urban courtyard building. The central courtyard garden defines the relationships between the Embassy building and the two residences.⁠ ⁠ The Embassy is formed in an L facing both the streets of Horacio and A. Musset. The two residences take the form of town houses tucked to the rear of the site, creating a sense of separation from the street and from the Embassy building whilst maintaining views out to Horacio and Musset respectively.

The form of the building is deliberately varied and solid, creating a sense of permanence on the street and addressing Parque América, without being overbearing.⁠ ⁠ We have focused on the common theme – albeit located in very different climates and cultures – of courtyard building typologies in both Mexico and Belgium. In an urban context, a central courtyard serves as a device by which to mediate the relationship between different parts of the city and buildings and as a space of encounter and communality. With the varying needs of the different elements of the project brief, we have used the built elements of the embassy to help to create and to define a series of exterior courtyards and gardens that serve to delineate between the different programmatic elements as well serving as communal and event spaces.