The Citica development, designed by Austin, Texas-based Mir贸 Rivera Architects in collaboration with Ibarra Arag贸n Arquitectura in Monterrey, Mexico, marks the first step of a municipal urban renewal plan to create pedestrian-friendly density on the roads leading from downtown Monterrey.
Completed in 2019 on the thoroughfare to San Pedro Garza Garc铆a, the project combines retail and commercial space with 90 moderately priced residential units. The building鈥檚 bottom levels incorporate a public promenade and open-air storefronts, shaded by a screen of hollow, 2-inch-diameter aluminum pipes cut in random lengths and arranged on a steel support lattice.
The screen wraps the property鈥檚 commercial base, including a parking garage, and extends to shade the office and residential towers. At this level, the pipes provide a solar screen and cohesive design element.
The retail level offers 17 shops and restaurants unified by metal panel cladding and floor-to-ceiling butt-glazed windows. A polygonal staircase, reminiscent of Central American pyramid steps, leads from the promenade at the ground level to the shops and offices on the mezzanine.
Above the commercial base, Citica offers 90 residential units and 164,000 square feet of office space in two distinct rectangular towers. Residential amenities include a rooftop deck and a swimming pool, and all apartments feature horizontal ribbon windows that provide views of Monterrey and the Sierra Madre Oriental mountain range.