La Carmela Cultural Center

La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo

LA CARMELA CULTURAL CENTER

Ágora

ARCHITECTS
Ágora

ENGINEERING
Oscar Zárate Moreno, José Juan Martínez Robles,

CONSTRUCTION
Haba Gerencia De Proyectos

RESTORATION T
Raúl Hernández, Claudia Servín, Zenia Lozano Meam

MANUFACTURERS
Holcim, Betamayab, Construlita, Hierro Ornamental De Puebla, Mac Cerámica S.a. De C.v., Oxical, Rogusa, Viveros Fortín, Watermaster

COLLABORATORS
Erik Ehecatl Cisneros, Olivia Jiménez, Óscar Suastegui

COLLABORATOR
José Hesner Sánchez

LIGHTING CONSULTANT
Fotón Ltd

STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Gustavo Herrera Méndez

PHOTOGRAPH
Andrés Cedillo

AREA
10370 m²

YEAR
2022

LOCATION
Heroica Puebla De Zaragoza, Mexico

CATEGORY 
Cultural Center

In the southwest of the city of Puebla, Mexico, at the foot of the Atoyac River, lies La Carmela, one of two hydroelectric plants that provided service to the Textile Factory El Mayorazgo in the early 20th century, built by Engineer Carlos Mastretta Fecit.

La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo

The project consisted of the restoration of the industrial vestige of the hydroelectric plant Carmela, which dates back to 1906, its immediate surroundings including an open sewage canal that crossed the property, and the construction of new buildings that, integrating with the pre-existing materials, allowed the formation of a new cultural complex.

Composed of: a site museum, cultural center, library, medical clinics, bike parking, workshops, skatepark, and linear park.

La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo

The La Carmela project speaks of industrial heritage, natural resources, and social equity, not only for the restoration of the two pre-existing buildings but also for the rescue of its hydraulic memory in the textile industry of Puebla.

In such a way, it was proposed that the trace of the water's passage define the visitor's route in an open-air museum where, starting from the articulation by floating walkways around the heritage buildings, its history is narrated.

La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo

The intervention offers a diverse architectural program attending to different populations at an extended schedule, generating multiscale equipment.

The restoration of the two pre-existing buildings and the canal that formed the Carmela plant is regional-scale equipment with a cultural vocation.

La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo

The intervention in the urban environment and the construction of the linear park attend to a local population, generating stay and recreational spaces of neighborhood scale in a marginal context.

Four lines of action were worked on: Heritage restoration, encompassing the existing heritage buildings.

Canal and water conduits, the castle or watchtower, and the machine house.

La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo

Hydraulic and green infrastructure, recognizing existing natural runoff and flood-prone areas.

Encasing the open sewage canal to improve water conduction towards the treatment plant and generate a linear park with endemic and regional vegetation on its top part.

La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo

Architectural intervention, constructing new elements as a complement to the complex.

Pedestrian floating circulation system, the skatepark, and the construction of the 7 modules.

La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo

Urban intervention, public space, and landscape, making the geometric readjustment of the boulevard, reducing the vehicular driving area to offer a wide, tree-lined, and illuminated pedestrian walkway.

Building a linear park with stay and recreational areas and a skatepark over the encased canal.

Cleaning and consolidating existing secondary channels and slopes and incorporating a diverse and native vegetation palette, seeking to generate a wild natural landscape, strengthening the existing vegetation recognizing a seasonal landscape (rainy season and drought), thus promoting low maintenance and various environmental benefits.

La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo

The project was developed for SEDATU as part of the Urban Improvement Program, with the objective of serving the population living in urban localities in conditions of urban and social backwardness.


La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
© Andrés Cedillo


La Carmela Cultural Center
Ground floor - Ágora
La Carmela Cultural Center
Ground floor - Workshops
La Carmela Cultural Center
Program floor plan
La Carmela Cultural Center
Complex ground floor plan


La Carmela Cultural Center
Sección Museo Sitio - Castillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
Sección Museo Sitio - Castillo


La Carmela Cultural Center
Fachada Museo Sitio - Castillo
La Carmela Cultural Center
Sección Museo Sitio - Castillo


La Carmela Cultural Center
Section - Ágora
La Carmela Cultural Center
Section - Ágora


La Carmela Cultural Center
Section
La Carmela Cultural Center
Section
La Carmela Cultural Center
Section
La Carmela Cultural Center
Section - Workshops


La Carmela Cultural Center
Complex axo
La Carmela Cultural Center
Axo
La Carmela Cultural Center
Facade - Ágora
La Carmela Cultural Center
Detail axo