An apartment located within the historic Condesa Building in Mexico City—a residential landmark built in 1911 by Thomas Gore—has been thoughtfully redesigned by Mancera Estudio. The Edificio Condesa project reinterprets the building’s Arts & Crafts spirit while preserving existing wooden windows, floors and selected furniture pieces. Generous natural light entering through these large windows unifies the interior, connecting the restored architectural character with a spatial configuration suited to contemporary living.
The Edificio Condesa project began as an opportunity to intervene in an apartment within the historic Condesa Building, a local landmark dating back to 1911 and originally designed by Thomas Gore.
The intervention takes place in Colonia Condesa, one of Mexico City’s earliest residential developments conceived with an almost town-like character—defined by tree-lined streets and early twentieth-century architecture.
From the outset, the building revealed itself as a structure conceived to endure: a place capable of absorbing the passage of time without losing its identity.
Rather than replacing what already existed, the project sought to preserve the building’s original structure.
The existing walls, doors and generous ceiling heights already established a clear spatial order.
Within this framework, the programme—two bedrooms, kitchen and living areas—was carefully reorganised to meet the needs of a contemporary family, while leaving the original building fabric intact.
A central objective from the beginning was to recover aspects of the building’s Arts & Crafts character without transforming the apartment into a historical replica.
Mouldings and ornamental details were meticulously reproduced, while existing frames, doors and exterior walls were restored to their earlier condition. Through this process, the apartment retains a sense of continuity, allowing its architectural narrative to remain legible.
The large windows proved fundamental to the project.
Their presence allows abundant natural light to enter the interior, establishing a connection both with the surrounding urban landscape and with the building’s historical context. This relationship between light, interior space and the exterior environment ultimately becomes one of the defining qualities of the apartment.
The resulting home embraces the passage of time rather than resisting it. It is a space that acknowledges its history while accommodating contemporary life, where everyday inhabitation gradually inscribes new layers onto an already enduring architectural story.
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Facts & Credits
Title Edificio Condesa
Typology Interior, Apartment, Renovation
Location Colonia Codesa, Mexico City
Status Completed, 2023
Area 140 m2
Architecture Mancera Estudio
Lead Architect Gabriel Mancera
Photography Sergio López
Text by the authors
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