An unforgettable sojournby Swetlana Stief | 10.04.2013

Filadelfia Suites

The property, where the project has been developed, is situated in Napoles, a former housing estate in Mexico City. Over the last years, office buildings were primarily created there. The Filadelfia Corporate Suites face the Convention Center, an important business centre. In the hotel’s vicinity lie the Polyforum Siqueiros, a popular cultural centre, and the Benito Juarez International Airport.

The goal: A hotel of a different kind

BNKR Architectura’s initial idea: a hotel, which offers business people an opportunity to escape the steady and monotonous routine of their jet-set lives. Filadelfia Suites should not be another faceless business hotel; a visit should become a unique and unforgettable experience. With these considerations in mind, the concept of individual hotel rooms was developed. Every room is unique, with a different floor plan, varying furnishings, different colours, materials, and shapes.

Part of the concept was that the individuality of the apartments should be recognizable at the façade. The shapes, which emerged from the floor plans, are stacked up on each other and put together like Tetris pieces. In the whole, they create a tower. Several materials like wood, metal, ceramics, or marble for example, accentuate the volumes within the façade. The “piece” of the second last storey is omitted. This results in a spacious, covered terrace, which offers an impressive view over the city.  The ground floor added to the whole construct forms the entrance area.

The compromise: the multifaceted façade

At first, the contractors were thrilled by BNKR’s concept, but after a while they realized that the project would be very complicated for functional reasons. Instead of previously 15 different types of rooms, only two were realized. A shock for BNKR Architectura, who had developed the whole concept based on this idea. But they were relieved, after they received the message that the principle of the façade would be maintained. The floor plans of the hotel were restructured according to the clients’ wishes, the concept of the façade survived.

In the end, they created a hotel with single- and two-storied apartments. The latter have a surface of over 70 square metres. At the lower floor, there are the kitchen, living-, and dining room. The upper floor contains bed- and bathroom. The single-storied rooms are available in a smaller version with bed- and bathroom, and in a bigger version with additional living- and dining room.

The showpiece of the hotel is the exclusive penthouse on the top floor. On a surface of 105 square metres, it offers two bedrooms with an adjacent bathroom, a kitchen, and a dining- and living room

The solution: more than a mere façade concept

One could think, after abandoning the initial idea, the architects had only focused on the aesthetic design of the façade. But as the floor plans show us, BNKR Architectura’s concept was not entirely dismissed, but